Monthly Archives: January 2020

funeral home in Levittown, PA

Funeral Home Professionals

You may or may not have interacted with a someone that owns or works in a funeral home in Levittown, PA. Whether or not you have, you will most likely have to someday to plan a funeral or a lost loved one or attend a funeral for a friend or family member. You should be prepared to properly address these hardworking professionals with the right job title, but which one do you use? From undertaker and mortician to embalmer and funeral director, do you really know what they all mean?

Out-of-Date Titles

The titles undertaker and mortician are out of date and a little negative. They are pretty much synonymous with the title of funeral director even though the term funeral director really didn’t start taking hold until the early 1900s when industry professionals actively set out to change their name from undertaker to something new. Funeral Director is the most modern, and correct, term for a professional in the industry. A funeral director is a funeral or cremation professional that helps arrange, plan and coordinate a funeral or cremation services.

Funeral Directors Work Hard

Funeral directors are professionals that are hardworking, thoroughly trained, and committed and help with funeral and cremation services. Funeral directors have to be licensed according to local laws. This is especially true in states where the funeral director is legally responsible for making sure the crematory or funeral home is complying with all health, mortuary, and vital statistic laws of the area. They perform a lot of services from funerals and visitations to memorials and wakes, as well as helping prepare the body for a funeral or cremation, including placing the body in the casket or cremation container.

Embalming Deserves Recognition

An embalmer is a cremation and funeral professional that is responsible for making sure the body is ready for burial. As the name denotes, embalmers perform the act of embalming, meaning they remove all body fluids and replace them with embalming liquid to slow down the body’s decomposition for a funeral service. In most states funeral directors and embalmers require different licenses and training courses. However, it is common for some people to be both depending on their professional interests, their business models, or local ordinances.

Now You Know

Funeral director is the preferred title as it is the most modern and gives the respect due for these hardworking professionals, even though none of the terms are technically incorrect. The next time you’re in a funeral home for a cremation service or are making plans for a loved one’s recent passing, you will know what to call the industry professional that is helping you.

If you have more questions on industry terms and names or would like to learn more about your options for a Levittown, PA funeral home, just reach out to J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel. Please visit us at 41 W Trenton Ave Morrisville, PA 19067, or give us a call at (215) 295-7725. We are happy to offer our support and services in your time of loss.

cremation services in Yardley, PA

Cremation Services and Funeral Traditions from Around the World

There are tons of different ways people perform and commemorate death. Be it eco-friendly burial capsules and glass beads to standard cremation services in Yardley, PA, it’s always fascinating to learn about different traditions and practices from all around the globe.

Want to learn more about some of these global traditions? Here is a short list of some fascinating cremation and funeral practices:

  1. Italian Capsula Mundi – The Capsula Mundi is a practice for after cremation services. It is an eco-friendly burial container that uses cremains to fertilize and seed a new tree. The name comes from a Latin root that translates to “transformations of our body between the mineral, vegetal and animal worlds: the three key elements of life on Earth.” Italians are embracing this tradition as a way to remind everyone that death is not forever, as the loss of life will breed new life in the form of a tree.
  2. Ga Fantasy Coffins – According to Ga tradition, life continues after death. This idea means that funerals and cremations should be celebrations. To embody this idea, the Ga people make fantasy coffins for their deceased in unusual shapes and colors. Each coffin is one of a kind, and usually represents the deceased’s life or career in some way.
  3. Coastal American Eternal Reefs – In coastal regions of the US, families are honoring the deceased in a way that also helps the environment: Eternal Reefs. This process, for bodies that have been cremated in a cremation service, uses cremains as a base for new coral reefs. It’s a wonderful plan to preserve marine environment for future generations and honor the dead.
  4. Tibetan Sky Burials– 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. This concept is also supported by their Buddhist beliefs, as there is an idea that this practice makes it easier for the dead to move onto their next life.
  5. South Korean Departed Beads – South Koreans usually cremate their dead, and then use the cremains to make colorful beads that they then display in decorative dishes or glass containers. The beads are generally pink, blue, or black, but they can be made into any color the bereaved choose. This practice has become more popular in recent years because there is no room in overcrowded cemeteries for new bodies.
  6. Japanese Ruriden Columbarium – Tokyo is one of the most crowded urban areas in the world. Its getting harder and harder for Japanese bereaved 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. Once a body is cremated, the ashes are interred in the columbarium for 33 years before being moved to a communal burial site beneath the temple.

Want 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 for more information on Yardley, PA cremation services.

cremation services in Trenton, NJ

Different Kinds of Cremation Services

There are tons of different ways you can make cremation services in Trenton, NJ personal and meaningful as they are very flexible in terms of planning. This flexibility is great to not only have a unique and meaningful service for the deceased but also because it gives the bereaved an easier time planning and executing the memorial or cremation itself.

This flexibility begins with what kind of cremation service you want. The three main choices are funeral, memorial, and direct, with each one offering slight variations in price, timeline and planning.

  • Cremation with Funeral – These cremation services have a regular funeral followed by a cremation instead of a burial. As with a traditional funeral, cremation services with a funeral usually are held in coordination with a wake or some kind of visitation within the days immediately following the death. Funerals followed by a cremation can be hosted by a religious leader, funeral celebrant or family member, and generally take place in a funeral home or church. The typical service includes readings, music, poems, sermons, eulogies and prayers. These cremations come with more costs than other types, mainly embalming and caskets. Embalming is the process in which the body is preserved for the viewing, and does cost money. The viewing and funeral also require a casket, not just a plain cremation box.
  • Memorial Cremations – Memorial cremations are very similar to cremations with funerals except that the body is not present at the service. This type of cremation service can be held at a later date after the death, sometimes weeks or months later, as the body is cremated directly after the death without any prior embalming or preservation. The remains are generally given back to the bereaved right before the memorial so they can inter them in the ground, scatter them, or put them out in a display right after the ceremony. The body can be a part of the memorial by being represented by a cremation urn, or, the bereaved can put up or display pictures of their lost loved one. Since there is no body, the service can be held almost anywhere like a park, church, home, funeral home, or even on a beach.
  • Direct Cremation Services – Direct cremation services are the most cost effective and time efficient cremation services. In a direct cremation the body is cremated directly after death and the remains are returned to the family without a ceremony or service. Typically, all the direct cremation costs are included in one flat fee, from transportation to the cremation itself. This method is cheap but doesn’t offer any sort of included celebration for the deceased’s life before the cremation.

There are tons of other ways you can personalize cremation services for your lost loved one. If you would like more information or inspiration, or would like to learn more about Trenton, NJ cremation services in general, J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel is here to help. You can stop by and visit us at 41 W Trenton Ave Morrisville, PA 19067, or give us a call at (215) 295-7725 for more information on what we can do for you in your time of loss.