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Personalizing My Grandpa's Funeral and
the Value of His Funeral Ceremony
By Matt Frazer
Four years ago my Grandpa passed away. This was the
first funeral that I had to attend in my life. Being
somebody that has worked in the funeral profession for
over fifteen years, it was interesting to finally have
to experience the loss of a loved one for the very first
time.
At my Grandpa's funeral we used many products to further
personalize the funeral to give the best possible
experience for our friends and family. We created the
ultimate funeral register book with tons of photos that
we had of my grandpa. Every year all the grandchildren
went back to Minnesota to hunt with my Grandpa. So as
you can imagine, we had a lot of hunting photos
throughout the register book. Some other information we
included were family recipes, like my Grandpa's favorite
chocolate chip cookies and chicken and dumplings. We
included a couple veteran pages and put in his old
military photos from the Korean war. We even inserted
his birth certificate and death certificate.
Other family members liked the register book so much,
that we made additional copies and handed them out so
they could take the register book home as a keepsake.
Since the register book we used has a photo that you can
insert on the front of it, all of our family members
have it displayed on a shelf or on the coffee table at
home.
Another item that we produced was the personalized
funeral candle. We chose a hunting theme for the
background. Then picked out our five most favorite
photos and included them on the front and the sides of
the candle. On the back of the candle, we included our
favorite poem. At the visitation, we lit the candle and
sat it next to the register book. It had a soft glowing
effect and gave life to all the photos. As our guests
walked through the door, they all commented about the
funeral candle and said how wonderful they thought it
looked. For me personally, the funeral candle gave off a
feeling of peace and comfort. I think the funeral candle
created a very nice touch and enhanced the overall
experience for everyone.
The funeral program was the next thing that we wanted to
be the most personalized item possible. Most funeral
homes today use a simple two up memorial folder that is
kind of small and only allows for a few photos and some
text. However, we used a full legal size sheet of paper
that we then tri-folded to make the ultimate funeral
program. The funeral program included about ten
different photos, my Grandpa's life story, and the
service information. It was very important to us that
every single person who attend the funeral had my
grandpa's life story that they could take home with
them. We felt there was no better way than the funeral
program.
One of my most favorite things that we created for my
Grandpa's funeral was the memorial tribute video. I
personally worked with my mom to help gather all the
photos throughout my grandpa's life. We tried to include
photos from when he was a baby all the way up to when he
passed. The thing that was most important to me was that
we could play the tribute video at the church and have
it be the last thing that we do. The reason why that was
important to me was because I wanted everyone to
remember all the photos, and remember him with how he
looked during his life, not what he looked like when he
was in the casket. I think the neatest thing about the
tribute video was how we used the very last photo. Since
my Grandpa was a truck driver all his life, we had
special photo with my Grandpa sitting in his truck and
waving good bye out the window. This particular photo
was the last trip my grandpa had to make before he
retired. But the significance of him waving good bye and
inserting that as our last photo in the tribute video
was pretty overwhelming. I don't think there was a dry
eye in the entire church.
Although I had been in the funeral profession for over
fifteen years, I still did not really truly understand
the value of the funeral ceremony until I had to
experience it for myself. Since my Grandpa was a Korean
war veteran, we had a full twenty one gun salute with
military honors. Leading up to the twenty one gun
salute, I personally was doing pretty well. To that
point I did not shed a tear. Looking at it hindsight,
things were building up inside that I did not know.
After the twenty one gun salute and flag folding, it was
then at that time, it was my job, along with my brothers
(we were pallbearers) to load my Grandpa into the back
of the hearse. I remember very distinctly, the moment I
heard and saw the back door of the hearse slam shut,
that's when I finally came to the realization that was
Grandpa is no longer here. That's when all the emotion
came out and I could begin the healing process. Today, I
still believe, without that funeral ceremony, I would
have never let out the emotion I needed to in order to
start healing.
For all the people in the world who have decided to do
direct cremation with no service just to save a few
dollars, I urge you to strongly reconsider. The funeral
is not for you. The funeral is for your friends and
family to be able to start the healing process.
The best place on the web to learn more about
personalized funeral stationery and other funeral
software is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid
reputation of developing high performing and reliable
technology for the deathcare industry. They also have a
beautiful selection of funeral keepsakes and holiday
remembrance ornaments. |
