Funerals are one of the oldest customs in existence. Every culture in recorded history has practiced some celebration or ritual associated with a person's death. This practice is but one of the basic needs of humanity that have existed for thousands of years, and remain unchanged by time and technology. One of the greatest challenges each of us will face is the transition from life with someone, to life without them. Consequently, it is important to come together as family and a community when someone has died. This is not just to garner the support of others, but to express who this person was, and what they meant to us; to mark and commemorate an occasion that will change our lives, and help us to realize that we will never be the same again. Gatherings, visitations and funerals are healthy beginnings to that transition of stepping into life without that person physically present with us. It is not about caskets, vaults, earth burial or even cremation. It is a time that we commemorate and celebrate a life not because they have died, but because they have lived.

The total cost of a funeral consists of services provided by the funeral home, as well as other charges such as a casket, outer burial container, cemetery or crematory charges, etc. These expenses will vary depending upon the family's choices of services and final disposition (i.e. burial, entombment, or cremation). At Crawford-A.Crim, the service we provide to you is our priority. Long after the funeral has occurred, a family's strongest memories associated with their experience will most likely be of the services, and rarely the casket/vault, etc.

 

Crawford-A.Crim will provide you with a document that outlines the costs of each aspect of a service. The casket and/or outer burial container or cremation process is a choice determined by each family. The total expenses associated with a funeral are up to the family and the choices they make will never affect the quality of the services provided by Crawford-A.Crim.

Please explain the options my family should have in personalizing the funeral?

Every funeral should be unique. It doesn't matter what characteristics funerals have taken previously, or what the next person's funeral will be like. A funeral should reflect the individuality of the person who has died. Their loves, hobbies, favorite things, and any other personality traits that made that person extraordinary should be included in some fashion. For instance, any music played during gatherings and visitations should be appropriate for that person. Very few people listen to organ music in their leisure time, so consequently the background music played should reflect their favorite style (i.e. classical, jazz, big band, country, etc.). Typically, music played during an actual funeral is the choice of an individual or the family's that is most closely associated with their religious or cultural beliefs.  Another unique and personal approach to a funeral can be found in the printed material usually available at a funeral. Crawford-A.Crim will create personalized printed materials to celebrate each life.

 

The Crawford family and staff take great pride in helping families create a meaningful and personal funeral to celebrate the life of someone loved and cherished.

Yes. Visitations and gatherings are historically rooted in virtually every culture on earth to provide an opportunity for families to receive support from extended family and friends. This is a very special time of sharing, when people are often found in small groups talking about the person who has died. Since many families as well as mourners feel intrusive about visitations in their home, gatherings and visitations at a church or funeral home provide "neutral ground" and usually more space where the supportive sharing of messages, flowers and food can be more comfortably expressed.

Embalming is a very ethical and dignified procedure that provides the opportunity for gatherings, visitations and funerals with the deceased person's body present. There are no laws that require embalming. Although there is some cosmetic value to it, embalming is first and foremost performed for sanitary reasons. Because of the natural changes that begin to occur to a person's body after they have died, embalming provides the means for families and friends to safely come into close proximity with that person's body. Since our physical appearance is the primary way people identify each other, the viewing of someone who has died forces us to confront the reality that their death has occurred. It is neither a morbid or unhealthy practice. On the contrary, viewing is a healthy way by which we begin to face the reality that life will never be the same and to begin the necessary process of grieving and healing. The only occasions when embalming is not done would typically be when a person's body is not present for visitation, gathering or the funeral.

In times of stress, most families find value and comfort by depending on Crawford-A.Crim to take care of the details. Crawford-A.Crim will facilitate with clergy, musicians, etc., everything necessary to create an appropriate and meaningful experience for the family. Crawford-A.Crim will provide staff to greet attendees at the door, and direct them toward register books and the location of the family; to provide personalized printed material for the memorial service which may include color photographs, family tributes, orders of worship, and anything else that would depict the uniqueness of the person who died; to bring an overall consistency and comfort that "everything is taken care of" in an occasion which can be overwhelmingly difficult.

 

Life insurance policies continue to be the mainstream method to protect a family from financial hardships associated with a death. Insurance benefits are typically purchased to assist with mortgage payments, educational needs and the loss of income, but rarely funeral expenses. Many people who carry life insurance also purchase pre-paid funeral plans for three simple reasons: 1) The family is freed of the burdens associated with the majority of funeral expenses; 2) The family honors the wishes of their loved one while being freed from the pressures of making arrangements during a period of grieving; 3) Pre-paying a funeral also provides the ability to "freeze" those costs from inflation. Pre-paid funeral plans are a sensible approach to a reality of life that can even augment most any insurance and estate policies.

Prior to your death, no one can alter your contract unless you give them permission as your power of attorney. The reality is that after your death, they can. The rights afforded us as individuals in life, for the most part, end at death. Most of the rights and privileges to our final disposition fall upon our legal next of kin. Consequently, that same next of kin can alter their relative's pre-paid funeral plans with a few exceptions. One of those being they cannot reduce the services and merchandise in order to receive money back from the pre-paid funeral contract. In actuality, legal next of kin are seldom interested in changing arrangements at the time of death. The vast majority of pre-paid funeral contracts are carried out to the letter, unless there is extenuating family circumstances.

Yes, you can. For clarification, the term "funeral" is used to describe a service with a person's physical body present. The term "memorial service" refers to a service without the person's physical body present. It is a common misconception that cremations are done with no services of any kind. The fact that a person or their family chooses cremation as a final form of disposition (other forms being burial and entombment) makes absolutely no reference to the type of services prior to that cremation. In fact, many families choose to have traditional gatherings, visitations and funerals with their deceased family member's physical body present prior to their cremation. For the Crawford family, the underlying theme is that all families will have choices. It is our responsibility to insure that families understand those choices, and their decisions should be made with the best possible information available.