What is a funeral?

 A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures.

What type of service should I have?
    1.Traditional Funeral Services These services typically include: •One or more "visitations" where the mourners gather, with the body present in an open or closed casket, to express condolences.  A service to commemorate the life of the deceased with the body present in an open or closed casket.  A procession to the cemetery where additional ceremonies may take place and the deceased is buried.
    2.Memorial Services Memorial Services commemorate the life of the deceased without the body present. They are usually following burial or cremation, or if the body has not been recovered (e.g., lost at sea).
   3.Combined Traditional and Memorial Services Both types of services — a visitation and a service with the body present, as well as one or more memorial services without the body present — can be arranged to commemorate one life. For example, memorial services can be held for mourners living in other cities or to honor a public figure for whom a private service was held.
   4.Graveside Services Sometimes commemorative services are held at the cemetery, either in a chapel or beside the grave, immediately prior to burial.
   5.Non-commemorative Funerals Also known as "direct" dispositions, non-commemorative funerals are when the deceased is buried, cremated, or donated to medical science without any formal service to remember the life that has passed.
 

Can I personalize my funeral service?
Organizing a funeral service is one of the most difficult tasks you can face. It is important to try and make the service unique to the loved one you have lost by focusing on the persons life and memories shared by those left behind.
  

Why should we have a public viewing?
Viewing is part of many cultural and ethnic traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children as long as the process is explained and the activity voluntary.

 

Why do we need an obituary notice?
 An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral

What do funeral directors do? 

Funeral directors are caregivers and administrators. They make the arrangements for the transportation of the deceased, complete all necessary paperwork, and implement the choices made by the family regarding the funeral and final disposition of the deceased. Funeral directors are listeners, advisors and supporters. They have experience assisting the bereaved in coping with death. Funeral directors are trained to answer questions about grief, recognize when a person is having difficulty coping, and recommend sources of professional help. Funeral directors also link survivors with support groups at the funeral home or in the community.

 

What should I do if the death occurs in the middle of the night or on the weekend?

When death occurs, Kratz Funeral Home personnel are available to assist you at any hour, seven days a week. Please call 608-742-5585 for assistance.
 

What should I do if a death occurs while away from home?
 When death occurs away from home, Kratz Funeral Home can assist you with out-of-state arrangements and transfer the deceased to a preferred location. Please call 608-742-5585 for assistance.

What is the purpose of embalming?
Embalming sanitizes and preserves the deceased, retards the decomposition process and enhances the appearance of someone disfigured by traumatic death or illness. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, thus allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.

Is embalming mandatory by law?
 No. Most states, however, require embalming when death is caused by a reportable contagious disease or when a deceased is to be transported from one state to another by common carrier, or if final disposition is not to be made within a prescribed number of hours.

Is cremation a substitute for a funeral?

 As more people are choosing cremation, funeral service professionals are striving to give consumers a true sense of what their many options are for a funeral service. Often funeral directors find that people have a preconception that they have fewer choices for a ceremony when selecting cremation for themselves or a loved one. Therefore, they request direct cremation and deny the surviving friends and family an opportunity to honor them with a memorial service. In actuality, cremation is only part of the commemorative experience. In fact, cremation can actually increase your options when planning a funeral. Cremation gives people the flexibility to search for types of tributes that reflect the life being honored. But this doesn't mean that aspects of traditional funeral services have to be discarded.

Can I have a visitation period and a funeral service if cremation is chosen?
 Even with cremation, a meaningful memorial that is personalized to reflect the life of the deceased could include: A visitation prior to the service, an open or closed casket, special music, a ceremony at the funeral chapel, your place of worship or other special location and participation by friends and family. Commonly, cremated remains are placed in an urn and committed to an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium; interred in a family burial plot; or included in a special urn garden.