Vintage

Purpose of the Funeral

All cultures commemorate significant rites of passage with rituals and ceremonies. As we mark births, marriage, anniversaries, and retirements, so we today utilize, with considerable variation, the funeral to recognize, celebrate, and commemorate the death of an individual. The funeral carries out a variety of functions: it transports, beautifies, buries and cremates and disperses the ashes of the deceased. It gathers family, friends, and community in the funeral home, at the church, in the cemetery and in the church hall. Serving as a wake, a visitation, a church service, and a burial, it joins private and public emotions, personal and communal remembrance, and earthly gratitude and everlasting wishes. Indeed, a funeral is a complex ceremony of word, emotion, and recognition, which marks the beginning of mourning and grief and the beginning of the rite of passage of deceased. Insofar as a funeral is an important ritual and ceremony, and to the degree which the funeral home and director plays an important part in helping to organize and arrange it, Rehkamp & Horvath is pledged to do the best we can.