Cremation

More and more people are choosing cremation as an alternative to a traditional burial service. Woodlawn offers a wide range of choices that allow you to choose the type of service that you find most meaningful.

Contrary to what many people believe, cremation does not limit one's choices, nor does it necessarily eliminate a funeral or graveside service. A service followed by cremation need be no different than a service followed by ground burial. The service can take place either at the graveside, the funeral home, place of worship or any other location you may choose. It is important to remember that with cremation, you still have the ability to add thoughtful, personal touches and memorial observances to honor and remember the person who has died. Cremation services can include:

Following the funeral service and traditional cremation, the cremated remains are usually placed in an urn before being committed to a final resting place.

Interment
The cremation urn may be interred in an existing family burial plot, interred in a special cremation section in the cemetery or placed in an indoor or outdoor columbarium. Columbariums are vaults, or sometimes simply walls, with niches to store remains for those who have opted for cremation. The word comes from the Latin name for the dwelling place of a dove (columba), which Christians believe is the symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Graveside Services
You can choose to have memorial prayers and religious rites performed at the graveside with cremation, just as you can with a typical earth burial. You can also choose to have a marker or monument as a permanent testimony to the life and the history of the deceased, and as a place for loved ones to visit.

With cremation, you also have other options that aren't available with a typical earth burial. Whether you decide on interring an urn in a family plot, or placing the urn in a mausoleum niche, our Family Service Counselors will explain the many options that are available to you.