One very helpful step is to decide which funeral homes you trust to handle the funeral or cremation of the deceased.  As hard as it may seem, to be prepared ahead of time is the best scenario in a difficult or unfamiliar situation.  We welcome your phone calls regarding our services, cost and other questions about our funeral home. You are always welcome to visit either one of our facilities and prearrange the funeral plans; there are no obligations or cost involved when prearranging.

 

If death occurs in a hospital, nursing home or hospice care center, the nurses will ask you what funeral home you have chosen to take care of the deceased.  The nurse will then call the funeral home and give us the necessary vital statistic information.  We are on call 24 hours 7 days a week and as soon as the body has been released we will immediately leave to pick up the deceased to take back to our funeral home.

If death occurs at home without hospice/doctor care, call 911 and the county coroner will make arrangements to pick up the deceased and take to the morgue.

 

Our funeral director will talk to the family when they pick up the deceased or if the family is not present, we will call you when we return back to the funeral home with the deceased.  We will set up a time for you to come in to make the arrangements.  We will ask you if you want embalming.  This is necessary if you are having a viewing (casket open).  If you are not having a viewing such as a direct cremation or immediate burial, no embalming is required.

 

If there is a viewing, the funeral director will ask you to bring the clothes with you along with vital statistic information which is needed to fill out the death certificate.  Obituary information, including a list of survivors and a picture (optional) will be needed at this time if you chose to have us submit it to the local newspaper; an obituary is optional.  Your funeral director will make all the arrangements necessary to conduct the type of service you are wanting.  They will make sure that all the necessary steps are taken from the start to the finish.  We are here to help you.

 

We accept assignments on most insurance policies, check, cash or credit card.  Payment is due prior to the service date.  

 

We prepare the death certificate with the information you have provided us. We then take it to the doctor's office for him/her to fill out the bottom section which is the cause of death, etc. We then take it to the city or county vital statistics office where they will give us the number of copies that you have ordered through us. Some doctor's offices allow us to submit the death certificate electronically and then it is submitted to the State Vital Statistics; they will send the completed copies of the death certificate to us and then we will give them to you. We also inform the Social Security Administration of the death.

 

Feel free to contact us.  If we are not at the funeral home, our answering service will contact one of our funeral directors (see staff) and they will return your call within minutes.