A meaningful funeral helps to acknowledge that someone special has lived.  It provides a special time and place for people to gather and talk about the death, and embrace and express their pain together.  Most importantly a period of visitation and a funeral ceremony provides family and friends with the opportunity to honour the person who has died in a special way.  It is a time during which the reality of the death is confirmed and together as "significant others" they can say good-bye to their loved one.

A meaningful funeral provides a form of closure to the relationship now lost and marks the beginning of the transition between how life was and how life is now.

As social beings we all need the support of others, especially through the grieving process.

VALUE OF THE FUNERAL

• Acknowledges that a life has been lived.
• Allows mourners to remember and honour their loved one in a special way.
• Serves as a central gathering place for family and friends to give emotional and physical support to one another.
• Provides closure for the bereaved.
• Initiates the grieving process.
• Confirms the reality and finality of the death.
• Encourages mourners to face the pain of their loss and express their thoughts and feelings.
• Helps survivors to better cope with their grief and enables them to move forward with their lives.

FUNERAL OPTIONS

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

• Funeral arrangements are usually made at the funeral home, although funeral directors will make them at the family’s residence, if desired.
• Among the decisions you must make are the time and place of the funeral and the place of interment or cremation.
• If the church is decided upon as the place of the service, the funeral director will be familiar with the rites and customs of all denominations.  If desired, the funeral home chapel may also be available.
• After ascertaining the family's wishes regarding the funeral service, the funeral director will make all the necessary arrangements and take care of the details such as obtaining the necessary vital statistics, confirming the service arrangements with the clergy or officiant, making arrangements for the Burial Permit, cemetery or crematory arrangements, newspaper notices and many other necessary details.

PREARRANGED FUNERAL SERVICE

• A prearranged funeral is a funeral arrangement made prior to a death.
• It is a practical way of determining your wishes for your own funeral or for the funeral of a person for whom you are responsible.
• These arrangements can be made with the funeral director either in the funeral home or at your own residence.
• A prearranged funeral in Ontario can be made only through a licensed funeral service establishment.
• All monies paid to the establishment must be deposited in a trust account, in accordance with provincial legislation.
• The funds are refundable upon written request to the funeral home.  If the agreement is cancelled prior to the time of need, the funeral director may charge an administration fee in an amount prescribed by the legislation.  This fee may offset some of the time which was spent by the funeral director in administering funds and for the auditing of the funds which is mandatory under provincial law.
• Prearrangement can be made in a number of ways - depositing the full sum of money at once, installment payments, insurance funded funerals, or by merely recording your wishes and preferences to be carried out at the time of death with the cost to be paid by your estate or next-of-kin.

MEMORIAL SERVICES OR SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE

• A memorial service is a funeral service conducted by a member of the clergy, a layperson, a family member or a close friend of the deceased in a church or chapel where the deceased may or may not be present.
• A service of remembrance is very similar but may be conducted by more than one person and can consist of friends and family eulogizing the deceased and may or may not have a religious service.

BURIAL

• There are many options available for burial, there is single grave burial, double depth burial, above ground burial in mausoleums.
• Cemeteries may be operated by local governments, church groups or private enterprises.
• Each cemetery has different by-laws regarding monuments - some permit upright monuments while others permit only ground level markers.  When purchasing a plot, most cemeteries will provide the purchase a copy of their by-laws.
• For burials, some cemeteries require the casket to be placed in an outer burial container.  The outer burial container, which prevents excessive earth settlement and cave-ins, is usually made of concrete, steel or fibreglass, and will vary in price and quality.
• Some cemeteries still permit the use of a wooden container; however, a small fee may be charged.
• Some cemeteries have sections available for cremation burial or columbariums for placement of cremated remains.

ORGAN DONATION/BODY DONATION/AUTOPSY

• An individual may not give both organs and the body for transplant and research purposes.  A donated body goes to a medical school of anatomy where it is used by medical students for anatomical study and dissection.  Most schools will not accept bodies that are autopsies, traumatized, emaciated or obese.
• An autopsy can assist in research and the development of medical knowledge.  The cause of death may be determined and tissues saved for future investigation.
• An individual may express their wish to donate their organs by signing the applicable area on their drivers licence and by communicating their wishes to their family.
• A doctor will determine the eligibility of an individuals organs at the time of death and must obtain the family’s permission prior to removing the organs.
• An organ donation does not preclude a traditional funeral but may delay it.  A body donation does preclude a traditional funeral, however, there are many ways the life of the one who has died may be recognized without the body present.

For further information contact the Chief Coroner for Ontario, 27 Grenville Street, Toronto M7A 2G9 (416)965-7768, The Multiple Organ Retrieval and Exchange Programs of Ontario, 984 Bay Street, Suite 503, Toronto M5S 2A5 (416)921-1130, 1-800-263-2833, or speak to your funeral director.

CREMATION

• Cremation is the process of reducing the body to bone fragments by applying intense heat (approximately 1000 degrees C - 183- degrees F) for a period of approximately 2 to 3 hours.
• Cremation occurs at a crematorium in a special kind of furnace called a cremation chamber or retort.  Ontario regulations allow only one cremation to take place at a time.
• Most crematoriums require that, at a minimum, the body be placed in a combustible container.  Many different options are available.  Contact your funeral director for specific details.
• Cremation does not limit the funeral services that may be chosen.  The same options available with earth burial are available with cremation, including: type of casket, location of the funeral service, an open casket.  Embalming is not mandatory, however, some circumstances may require it.
• Family members may be present at the cremation depending on the crematorium's policy.
• Once the cremation has occurred there are still decisions to be made.   There are a number of options available:
• Burial in a cemetery.
• Inurnment in a niche or an above ground structure called a columbarium.
• Scattering in a cemetery or on private or public property. *Be sure to obtain authorization from the property owner and keep in mind that a favourite place today may change ownership, and development of the area may take place).  Some smaller airlines offer scattering by air.
• Shipping cremated remains to another country.
• Keeping the cremated remains home.

Before making such an important decision it is important to have a much information as possible.  Contact a funeral home in advance of requiring its services.