When Death Occurs

No matter if your family decides on a burial or cremation, having a funeral is an essential part of celebrating, remembering and honoring the life of your loved on. We are here to help you every step of the way. 

When death occurs at home or a place of business...

The police will have to be notified immediately.  The police will be dispatched to the home and place the call to the coroner/medical examiner.  From there the coroner/medical examiner may take the body and determine whether further action is necessary.  The coroner/medical examiner must release the body before a funeral home can do anything.   

When a death occurs at a hospital/nursing home/hospice facility...

The staff of a care facility such as a hospital or a nursing home will notify you and the necessary authorities immediately after a death has occurred.  If a funeral home has been provided to the hospital or nursing home, they will be notified at the time of death. 

If you are present at the hospital when the funeral staff arrives, they will provide you with a preliminary worksheet to fill out. You will need to bring that to the Funeral Home for your scheduled appointment. If you are not present a funeral director will contact you, by telephone to discuss these arrangements.

If the person was under hospice care, contact the hospice representative if they were not present and they will notify family members what the proper procedures are to follow.

Informing a Funeral Home/Funeral Director

Once everything has been cleared with the proper authorities, the next call you place should be to a licensed funeral director.  Funeral directors are here to help you bring your loved one into our care, schedule a meeting to go over the type of service & all details you would like for you loved one.  Funeral directors are here to help and advise you and will work very hard to relieve the stress and logistics involved in funeral planning.

Meeting a Funeral Director or Funeral Home Representative...

You should meet with a funeral director within 24 hours of a death to begin to make final arrangements for your loved one. If this is not possible for any circumstance, we can accommodate to your scheduled if available. Deciding on these final arrangements may seem like a very daunting task, especially when you are in heightened emotional state, but funeral home staff have experience dealing with these issues and strive to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible.

Making Arrangements

First the Funeral Director will set a time to meet to gather information required for the death certificate.  This includes:

Full Legal Name and Address

Marital Status

Race/Ethnicity

Date and City of Birth

Social Security Number

Highest Level of Education

Father’s Name, Mother’s Name (including maiden name)

Name of Spouse (if married or widowed)

Occupation and Employer

If no pre-planning has been done, necessary arrangements need to be made for the funeral service.  This may include:

Scheduling the location, date and time of the visitation and funeral service

Selecting burial or cremation

Choosing Funeral Products

Arranging a cemetery plot

Preparing an obituary notice

Scheduling transportation arrangements