The most traumatic moment in most people’s lives occurs when a family member has passed. Nothing can prepare you for this moment, even if the death was expected. 

If you recently lost a loved one, we would like to offer our sincerest sympathies. We know you probably feel lost right now. We understand how important it is for you to have access to a knowledgeable professional who knows what to do. Please consider calling the Philadelphia Cremation Society at 610-632-1191 for assistance. 

Here are some suggestions of what to do upon a family member’s passing.

What to Do When a Family Member Passes

The grief experts at the Philadelphia Cremation Society will arrange to have a professional pick up your loved one. Our transportation service will transfer bodies from private residences, nursing homes, hospice facilities, hospitals, or coroners’ offices in the Philadelphia area. Our service area includes the following counties in Pennsylvania: Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, Lehigh, Northampton, and Berks. We now also offer services to the residents of the following counties in New Jersey: Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem. Also, contact us if you reside in New Castle County in Delaware.  

Philadelphia Cremation Society’s highly trained, compassionate staff members will ask a few simple questions that will enable us to make the cremation arrangements. Before those arrangements can take place, families need to determine whether the cremation will occur before the funeral services or after. If you choose to delay the cremation until after the service, the body may need to be embalmed. We can help you arrange this process, which may be necessary for an open-casket visitation.

Once you and the rest of your family have made these decisions, the Philadelphia Cremation Society will take care of the rest of the paperwork and details. You will be free to focus on notifying other family members and comforting those around you.

Cremations Needed ASAP? 

Perhaps you had already made funeral arrangements and had the opportunity to say your final goodbye to your loved one. In this case, you may prefer that the cremation occur as soon as possible. This is generally referred to as a direct cremation. The Philadelphia Cremation Society can help you with this process.

We offer several easy-to-understand packages that offer the best pricing in the Philadelphia area. All packages include cremation arrangements, online memorials, assistance

Many people find comfort in doing things the same way as their parents and grandparents did. They make peanut clusters at Christmas because “that’s what grandma always did.” Each bride in the family wears the same strand of pearls at her wedding because it is an important family heirloom. Some families even plan the same types of funerals for their deceased loved ones, generation after generation. 

You may feel uncomfortable about the idea of cremation if you come from a family that has always chosen burial as an end-of-life option, but it is not as scary as you think. The purpose of this blog is to educate you about the cremation process. We will tell you a bit about the history of cremation in the U.S. and explain the science involved in the process. We also intend to reassure you that whether or not your family has chosen cremation for their loved ones in the past, it is a loving and environmentally-friendly way to say goodbye to someone you love. 

The History Behind Cremations

Even though cremation has been used for centuries in other areas of the world, the practice didn’t come to the United States until the 1850s. The first person to open a crematorium in the U.S. did so just five hours west of Philadelphia in Washington, Pennsylvania. 

The man behind the practice was a medical doctor, Dr. Francis Julius LeMoyne. He designed and built the crematorium because he thought the new-found method of embalming the deceased might harm the health of the living. 

Since then, cremation has slowly gained in popularity over the decades. In 2016, CNN reported that over half of Americans were choosing cremation over burial. 

The Science Behind Cremations

Some people feel better about cremation after learning about the process. Here are the basic steps of cremation. 

After a person dies, the Philadelphia Cremation Society will transfer the body from a hospital, coroner’s office, nursing home, hospice facility, or private residence to their facility.

After the proper paperwork has been completed, the body will be prepared for cremation. It is worth noting that bodies that are to be cremated are typically not embalmed unless the family wishes to have the body present at an open-casket visitation or viewing. 

Before

It’s no secret that cremation is gaining in popularity and continues to outpace traditional burials. According to the National Funeral Director’s Association, the percentage of people choosing cremation is expected to surpass 70% by the year 2040, while conventional burials will decrease to around 16%. But why the shift and will conventional burials become a thing of the past? In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why cremation is becoming more widespread and why traditional burials will always be appealing to some. 

Why do people choose cremation?

Lower Cost

Hands down the #1 reason people choose cremation is affordability. The average cost of a basic cremation minus any frills such as visiting hours or memorial service is about $2,500, and direct cremation can be as low as $800. Cremation does not require a grave or headstone, and cremation urns are typically cheaper than caskets and don’t require pallbearers. By comparison, the median cost of a burial with a coffin and full funeral home services is about $7,500.

It’s More Personal

With more people breaking from tradition and decoupling religion from death, families and friends are choosing to celebrate death in more unique and personal ways. End of life celebrations are now popping up, taking on many different forms; dinner at a favorite restaurant, a hike on a beloved trail, or a paddle out to a local surf spot. And unlike burials, cremation provides the flexibility to scatter ashes at sea, in your backyard, sprinkled over a reef, planted as a memorial tree, or even shot off in fireworks. Cremation jewelry and tattoos are also gaining popularity as a way to permanently memorialize a loved one.

Newer Ways

A new alternative to standard cremation is now emerging. Twenty states now permit a process called Alkaline Hydrolysis, sometimes called “flameless” cremation, which uses a mixture of pressurized water and chemicals to dissolve the body, making cremation an attractive option to those who previously felt standard cremation by heat or flame sounded ominous.   

Claustrophobia

Some people don’t like the idea of being put into a box and the body decaying over time or potentially being dug up at some point.

Environmental Concerns

While cremation does require a significant amount of energy and releases carbon emissions, generally it is considered the “greener” and eco-friendlier option.

Cremation has increased in popularity every year since 1980. With the passage of a new California law, cremating your loved one has become a little bit easier (and more unique). On October 15, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law into place that would allow for water cremations. This new process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, puts a spin on how traditional cremation procedures are performed. Water cremation is said to be better for the environment as it simulates a more natural tissue and bone decay process than traditional flame-based methods.

As cremation has grown in popularity so too have a host of cremation-related trends. As we embark on 2018, here are the top cremation trends that can give you a unique way to memorialize your loved one.

Neolithic people developed the art of tattooing. One of the first forms of tattooing was scarification. The process involved ripping the skin with pointy objects then filling the resulting gashes with dirt or ashes. Because of the pain and effort involved in the process, many ancient people believed tattoos energized sacred life forces. Eventually, tattooing transformed into the method we know today.

Some work from the olden days lingers on, revealing the hopes and dreams of a time and people we can only study and imagine. Such revelations continue to inspire modern tattoos.

Reasons Behind Body Ink

Tattooing the body began as a way to commemorate, identify, and signify major life events such as tribal identity, battle victories, anniversaries, and punishments. Some people believed tattoos served as an offering to the gods or a way to connect with the spirit world. Even today, many people who get a tattoo take care in creating the perfect design to represent an event, person, or belief.

We’ve improved the methods we use to tattoo, but we’ve retained the same mystical connection to the body inking ritual, inspired by the glimpses of ancient craftsmanship. Most of the time, people have a story behind why they got a tattoo and also behind the design. One of the common reasons people get inked is to honor a loved one who’s passed on.

One of the most unique ways to get inked is to get a tattoo that not only memorializes someone, but that also contains their cremains. Some people believe such a piece creates an everlasting bond. Let’s look at how it’s done.

Cremains Tattooing Process

This process requires an experienced tattoo artist who understands how to use cremains in a tattoo. The tattoo artist must use the most powdery form of cremains possible. Therefore, large bits of the cremains will be sifted away until all the cremains become fine and powdery.

Next, the powdery ashes must be baked for further sterilization. After that, the tattoo artist mixes a minuscule amount of the cremains into the ink. And from there, the process follows the normal guidelines. As long as you deal with professionals, everything should go smoothly. The same can be said of making cremation arrangements.

Cremation: The First Step 

Using ashes in the form of cremains is a way that the tattoo process pays tribute to historical methods as well as the dead. The process is safe and not that difficult. Besides a few additional details, it’s not that much

Cost-cutting with a do-it-yourself cremation method qualifies as beyond bad. It’s terrible because of the work involved. It’s dangerous. And in many places, it’s illegal.

In the Chinese province of Zhejiang, two brothers recently tried to save money by cremating their father’s body. They transported the deceased to a local dump, where they torched the body with gasoline then left it to burn. The Chinese authorities took the brothers into custody for unlawful disposal of a human body.

Cremation is one of the fastest growing alternative burial methods in the country. Yet, most people are not aware of the legal rules that must be followed when cremating a loved one. In this article, we’ll discuss some frequently asked questions to guide you through the process.