Monthly Archives: November 2019

funeral homes in Yardley, PA

Six Funeral Home Trends From Around the World

It may feel like you’re alone in your grief after a loss, but the funeral homes in Yardley, PA are far from the only ones in the world. In fact, there are tons of different funeral home trends and traditions all across the globe that can inspire us and teach us about memorialization and grief. Here are six to inspire you:

  1. Departed Beads from South Korea – South Koreans have started using loved one’s cremated ashes to make colorful beads that they then display in decorative dishes or glass containers. Though the beads can range in color, they are most commonly pink, blue, or black. This practice has become more popular in recent years as cemeteries are filling, and South Koreans need new ways to honor the dead.
  2. Sky Burials from Tibet – The ground in Tibet is much too rocky for burial, so instead Tibetans lay out their deceased as offerings to the local giant griffon vultures. Though this sounds grotesque, it is a normal part of life for Tibetans, and is a main part of their Buddhist beliefs as it is said that this practice makes it easier for the dead to move onto their next life.
  3. Fantasy Coffins from Ghana – In Ghana, most people believe that life continues after death, and therefore funerals should be celebratory. To embody this idea, the Ga people make fantasy coffins in unusual shapes and colors. Each coffin is one of a kind, and usually represents the deceased’s life or career in some way.
  4. Eternal Reefs in the US – In costal regions of the US, families are honoring the deceased in a way that also helps the environment: Eternal Reefs. This process uses cremains to make a base for new coral reefs, thereby preserving the marine environment for future generations and honoring the deceased. Families are often encouraged to personalize the reefs by adding handprints, plaques or other memorials.
  5. Ruriden Columbarium from Japan – Tokyo is one of the most dense urban areas in the world, making it hard for the Japanese to find places to bury their dead. The colorful and high tech Ruriden Columbarium is a solution to this problem. It features thousands of crystal Buddhas, each representing a recently deceased. The ashes are interred in the columbarium for 33 years before being moved to a communal burial site beneath the temple, allowing people to grieve in the traditional way before making space for others to do the same.
  6. Capsula Mundi in Italy – The Capsula Mundi is an eco-friendly burial container that uses cremains to fertilize and seed a new tree. The Latin name refers to a proverb that states, “transformations of our body between the mineral, vegetal and animal worlds: the three key elements of life on Earth.” Italians are embracing this new tradition as a way to remind everyone that death is not forever, as the death will breed new life in the form of a tree.

Every culture, country, and religion has its own funeral traditions and ideas. We can take inspiration from each of them, and hopefully make Yardley, PA funeral homes even better. To learn more, please reach out to J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel by visiting 41 W Trenton Ave Morrisville, PA 19067, or calling (215) 295-7725.

cremation service in Trenton, NJ

What Are Outdoor Cremation Urns?

You aren’t limited to displaying or housing your loved ones remains in an indoor urn after a cremation service in Trenton, NJ. In fact, there are hundreds of options when it comes to body disposition, display or housing post cremation. From scattering and water burials, to inurnment in a columbarium and more, you can get as creative as you want for your loved ones post-cremation final resting place.

Some uncommon options are burial, inurnment or display outdoors. You can easily house your loved ones cremated remains in an urn above or below ground outside. If you decide to go this route, however, you do need to choose an urn that specifically made for outdoor use. These outdoor urns are designed to remain intact and even beautiful even after long years of outdoor exposure to dirt, dust, rain, snow and more.

When shopping for an outdoor urn, you first need to decide if the urn will stay above ground, or be buried below ground, as there are both above and below ground urns.

Many cemeteries have a columbarium. Columbarium are spaces, rooms or buildings designed to hold and display cremation urns. They have numerous individual niches carved into the walls for this purpose. Columbarium house cremated remains outdoors, but above ground.

When choosing an above ground outdoor urn, a metal urn is best. Bronze, brass, pewter, and stainless steel are great choices, although almost any urn designed for human remains will most likely work. However, it’s important to keep in mind that unless the outer wall of the columbarium is made of glass, you probably won’t be able see the urn once it’s been placed. Therefore you don’t have to worry about decoration too much. You can choose ceramic or glass, but these urns are not ideal for outdoor use as they are more vulnerable to cracking.

You can also choose to bury your loved one’s cremated remains. Like traditional full body burial, burying cremated remains allows you to have a defined place where family and friends can go to remember the lost loved one. In some cases, many families already own a burial plot, and want to use this land even if the deceased is cremated. Most cemeteries require an urn vault when burying cremated remains. The vault is typically sealed to keep out moisture and other elements of nature. Since the vault will bear the brunt of the natural exposure, any kind of urn will do.

If you don’t have to have an urn vault, you need to choose an urn that is durable. Strong urns from metal, composites or resins are ideal. A cremation urn made from wood, ceramic, or glass would most likely to lose its integrity over time, leaving the deceased’s remains exposed.

J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel specializes in Trenton, NJ cremation services, and would love to give you more information. Please visit us at 41 W Trenton Ave Morrisville, PA 19067, or give us a call at (215) 295-7725 to learn more about what we can do for you in your time of loss.

funeral home in Trenton, NJ

Host A Meaningful Funeral

When first facing the death of a loved one, it may seem easier to just quickly make funeral services arrangements at a funeral home in Trenton, NJ with as little thought as possible you can move on. However, studies have shown that meaningful, thoughtful funeral services actually help the grieving process. Funerals help honor the deceased’s life, and aid the living in recognizing and celebrating that life.

Mental health professionals and grief specialists alike agree that meaningful funeral services help people cope, accept, and eventually move past the loss of a family member or loved one. Furthermore, properly planned and executed meaningful funeral services provide an opportunity for families and friends to express feelings, connect with one another, and move towards healing as a unit.

So what is a meaningful funeral? Meaningful funerals usually have things like:

  • Focus on Relationships – People always say that relationships are the most important part of life, so the best way to have a meaningful funeral service is to have focus on the relationships the deceased had with friends and family. Take a moment to remember special events, fond memories, or everyday moments that embody what made the deceased’s relationships special. Use these memories to enhance your funeral services so they can best honor the deceased.
  • Tribute Videos – Modern technology offers a unique way to remember the deceased. Take your home videos, photographs and memoires and create an especially unique tribute video. Put in graphics and music for even more personalization.
  • Memorial Websites – Make the meaningful funeral services accessible to the world with a memorial website. Websites are beautiful and useful. They help connect family, friends and acquaintances online for easy funeral announcements and communication. They also can display the video, obituary, photos and more online so everyone has easy access long after the funeral is over.
  • Customized Prints – Order customized prints for the funeral. These prints range from photo collages and blown up portraits to bookmarks, programs, boards and even books. Put special quotes, Bible verses, poems or artwork on the prints. You can also print out the obituary, or even the deceased’s favorite sayings. The prints serve as decoration for the funeral, and can be taken home by hosts and guests as keepsakes.

These are just ideas to give you inspiration, as what is meaningful to you about the deceased might be different that what is meaningful to someone else about their lost loved one. You knew the deceased, and you know the best ways to honor his or her life through meaningful funeral services. Trust your instincts, and allow the funeral to help you heal.

If you need help planning, J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel is here to help. We are a Trenton, NH funeral home located at 41 W Trenton Ave Morrisville, PA 19067. We would be honored to help you plan a meaningful and respectful service for your lost loved one, or to help you preplan for your eventual passing. Please give us a call at (215) 295-7725 to learn more.

Cremation services in Levittown, PA

Water Cremation Services

Cremation services in Levittown, PA have been popular for a very long time, but have been even more so in recent years for many reasons including price, ease, flexibility, and environmental benefits. However, there is a new kind of cremation on the market that may offer all those benefits and more: water cremation. Water cremation, or alkaline hydrolysis, puts an interesting and unique spin on traditional cremation procedures, and might even be better for the environment as it simulates a more natural tissue and bone decay process than traditional flame-based methods.

Water cremations do not involve any burning, so no harmful gases or pollutants are released into the air. Rather, during a water cremation, the body is placed in a steel chamber. The chamber is then filled with an alkaline solution made up of 95% water and 5% potassium hydroxide, and raised to a very high pressure to prevent boiling.

The chamber, and the body in the solution, is then heated to around 350 degrees Fahrenheit for an extended period of time, from 4 to 16 hours. The heat, pressure and solution work together to break down the body, leaving only the bones. At the beginning of the process, the mixture is strongly basic, with a pH level of approximately 14. However, by the end of the process, the pH can drop to 11. The body slowly dissolves, and the bones, once removed from the chamber, crushed into ash and returned to the family just like in a traditional cremation. However, water cremated remains are much lighter in color and in texture than classic cremated remains. Cremated remains made from flames are often darker and denser from the various combustion reactions that occur when the body is heated under extreme temperatures.

While water cremation may seem strange, it’s actually just a more sped up version of what would happen when a body decays naturally. Interestingly, the process was originally developed as a way to process animal carcasses into plant food back in 1888. In 2007, a biochemist from Scotland founded a company to make the machines necessary to use the method to process human remains.

2007 wasn’t that long ago, so water cremations are still pretty new. The method is so new, in fact, that it’s currently only legal as a means of final disposition in 16 states, including Oregon, Illinois, Colorado, Nevada, California, and more. Laws on water cremation are currently pending in states like New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Though out of the box, water cremations might be the way of the future. Would you consider a water cremation for yourself or for a lost loved one? Whether or not you would, you can still turn to J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel for your cremation service needs.

J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel, located at 41 W Trenton Ave Morrisville, PA 19067, is prepared to help you with your Levittown, PA cremation service needs. Please give us a call today at (215) 295-7725 to learn more about what we can do for you in your time of loss.