There are many ways to customize a funeral service or gathering to reflect on the person being remembered and to allow those present to participate. Click on Caskets & Urns for a complete listing of merchandise and personalized offerings.
We are well known in the funeral service for our flexible pricing and our innovative approaches to memorialization. Click on Selected Burial Packages for a list of special pricing. You may, if you wish, itemize from our General Price List which is available from any of our convenient neighborhood locations, by appointment.
When people think of traditional casketed funerals they assume that embalming is a requirement for this kind of service. Embalming is only required if a family would like to have a public viewing or for winter entombment. If a family wanted a graveside funeral without a viewing then embalming would not be a requirement.
Brookings-Smith provides traditional funeral services tailored to family wishes and needs. Following is a summary of services that families usually select from:
Visitation – Calling Hours – Wake
Depending on your religious belief the time to meet in the evening, or afternoon, has become known by several names. The reason why people have visitations is to set a time and place for people to come together in an informal setting to express their grief and sympathy to the surviving family. Usually this takes place in the funeral home, but can also occur in a church or private home. The timing for this is usually in the evening so that people who work can attend.
Funeral Service
A funeral service is a tribute to a loved one with the remains present. This can be accomplished in a church, synagogue, private home, or a funeral home. Usually a clergy officiates this service where it is a reflection of a life lived and is a starting point for a life without the loved one.
Graveside Funeral Service
This is a funeral service that is held by the grave in a cemetery. Some people like this kind of service where it is out of doors and may reflect the personality of the deceased. Tents are available if the weather looks wet and we customarily provide chairs and portable speaker system for the family to be seated.
Immediate Burial
An immediate burial happens when a family does not want any form of tribute for their loved one. Burial occurs soon after the grave is prepared and usually there are no clergy or family present.