For
the Families We Serve in Waco
It is important to recognize that funerals and memorial ceremonies
are for the living ... for those who are affected by the loss
of a loved one. It is through the funeral process that a number
of emotional needs are met for those who grieve.
A funeral is similar to other ceremonies in our lives. Like
a graduation ceremony, a wedding, a baptism, and a bar mitzvah,
a funeral is a rite of passage by which we recognize an important
event that distinguishes our lives.
The funeral declares that a death has occurred. It celebrates
the life that has been lived, and offers family and friends the
opportunity to pay tribute to their loved one.
The gathering of family and friends for a time of sharing and
funeral service helps to provide emotional support so needed at
this time. This will help those who grieve to face the reality
of death and consequently, to take the first step toward a healthy
emotional adjustment.
The funeral can and does take on many varied forms. Funerals
can last from minutes to months and are usually influenced by
the lifestyle and values of the bereaved family and friends. Click
here to view testimonials from the many families we have served.
"What Options Are
Available in Services and
Disposition from OakCrest?"
Individualized -
A valuable aspect of contemporary funerals is their individuality.
Whether a ceremony is elaborate or simple, funerals are often
individualized to reflect the life of the deceased and to hold
special meaning for family and other survivors. It may reflect
one's religious beliefs as a reaffirmation of faith in a greater
life beyond this world.
It may reflect the occupation or hobbies of the deceased. It
may center around an ethnic background or social affiliation.
Disposition choices available
from OakCrest - In our society, three basic forms
of final disposition are practiced. The first is earth burial
which continues to be the form of disposition chosen most often.
Cremation is also a choice.
This is a process of preparing the body for final disposition
whereby the body is reduced by intense heat over several hours
to a few pounds of small fragments. These cremated remains are
usually placed in an urn which may be buried, placed in a memorial
niche, or kept in some other location. Cremated remains may also
be scattered where permitted by law.
Finally, entombment in a crypt is also a choice and is one of
the oldest forms of disposition. Today many cemeteries maintain
crypts for entombment which may be in a mausoleum or in an outdoor
garden.
OakCrest Funeral Home custom builds personalized video
tributes for families we serve. The video is offered
free of charge, and the family is free to make copies to other
family members. Also available in CD format. Call us at 254-772-5272
for details.
"What Does a Funeral
Director Do at OakCrest?"
We estimate that over 136 individual activities must take place
in order for one funeral to be conducted. The funeral director
is actually an organizational specialist.
Here is a condensed list of some of the more visible activities
of a typical funeral director.
- Removal and transferring the deceased from place of
death to Funeral Home.
- Professional care of the deceased, which may include
sanitary washing, embalming preparation, restorative art, dressing,
hairdressing, casketing and cosmetology.
- Conduct a complete consultation with family members
to gather necessary information and discuss specific arrangements
for a funeral.
- File all certificates, permits, affidavits, and authorizations,
as may be required.
- Acquire a requested amount of certified copies of the
death certificate needed to settle the estate of the deceased.
- Compile an obituary and place in newspapers of a family's
choice.
- Make arrangements with a family's choice of clergy
person, church, music, etc.
- Make arrangements with cemetery, crematory, or other
place of disposition.
- The providing of a register book, prayer cards, funeral folders,
and acknowledgments, as requested by a family.
- Offer the assistance of notifying relatives and friends.·
Arrange for clergy honorariums, music, flowers, death certificates,
obituaries, additional transportation, etc.
- Care and arrangement of floral pieces and the post
funeral distribution as directed by a family.
- Arrange for pallbearers, automobiles, and special services
(fraternal or military) as requested by a family
- Care and preservation of all floral cards, mass cards, or
other memorial contributions presented to the funeral home.
- Your funeral director, with his/her staff personnel,
will direct the funeral in a most professional manner, and be
in complete charge of the funeral procession to the cemetery
or other place of disposition.
- Assist a family with social security, veterans insurance,
and other death-related claims.
- A post funeral meeting, by the funeral director, with a family,
to deliver such things as the register book, floral and mass
cards, and to ascertain whether or not he/she can be of further
assistance.
Talk to an OakCrest
Funeral Director...
- Jim Moshinskie, 772-5272, Email
- Tammy Mattiza, 772-5272, Email
- Chris Mattiza, 772-5272, Email
What
Does It Cost?
