If your family has chosen cremation, Western Carolina Mortuary Service has an on-site crematory and several options to help you honor your loved one with a meaningful service. Our client families may choose between several types of cremation services, along with further options to help personalize each service in a fitting way that respectfully memorializes your loved one.
Some people mistakenly believe that cremation is a substitution for a funeral. This viewpoint is inaccurate. In reality, cremation should not be considered the final disposition (resting place) of the deceased. Instead, it is more helpful to consider cremation as the preparation for the final disposition.
Cremation offers the family of the deceased a great deal of freedom to decide which type of service or memorial option will best honor the life of their loved one. In some ways, cremation offers more flexibility than burial when planning a funeral or memorial service, because there is no time frame that requires final disposition within a few days of death.
Many families find meaning and beauty in a traditional funeral service. With a traditional service combined with cremation, you can still choose to have a final viewing, visitation or wake, and a funeral service. However instead of in-ground burial, the funeral will be followed by cremation. Depending on your wishes, the ashes may be either returned to your family for storage in an urn, scattered, or interred in a columbarium. This option will include fees for the funeral services as well as the fees associated with the cremation itself.
If you choose cremation prior to the service, you may elect to have the cremated remains placed in an urn so they can be present at the service or not, depending on the wishes of your family. The memorial service can be scheduled at the convenience of family members. This option will include fees for the memorial service as well as the fees associated with the cremation itself.