What Do Funeral Home Directors Do?

Funeral home directors oversee Youngtown, AZ cremations and funerals. That oversight involves a lot of details that most people are not aware of or don’t think about when they lose a loved one. 

One of the things that funeral home directors do is explain the process of cremations and burials. A lot of people are not familiar with what to expect when someone dies and what the arrangements options are and how to make them. This can be very stressful when people are grieving, and this is where funeral home directors step in to walk through the details and alleviate the stress. 

Funeral home directors handle all the logistics associated with cremations and burials. This includes things like transporting the body from the place of death – whether across town or across the country – to the funeral home, doing all the paperwork required for the cremation or burial, preparing the body for burial (including embalming, dressing, and grooming the body), applying for death certificates, and coordinating each aspect of the cremation or burial (including contacting cemeteries, transporting the body to the crematorium or burial site, and, in the case of burials, actually burying the casket).  

Another thing that funeral home directors do is plan funeral services or memorial services. They will work with the family of the deceased loved one to prepare the service and then contact everyone who will be involved in the service, such as clergy, musicians, florists (if you include flowers), and other people directly involved. They will also ensure that the services go smoothly and are not interrupted by glitches or anything else that could detract from the solemnity of the service. 

Funeral home directors deal with death and grief continually. Because of this, they know how difficult losing a loved one can be and they also understand that the bereaved may need extended grief support as they adjust to the loss. Many funeral homes offer short-term grief support groups as part of their services, while others have very strong ties to grief support groups within the community, so they are able to guide you with finding a grief support group. Funeral home directors play an important role in this function and offer consistent practical and emotional support during the funeral process. 

Another thing that funeral home directors can do is help the family write obituaries and death notices (either online or in newspapers – they make sure it gets published in all the newspapers that the family wants it to appear in). Funeral home directors also arrange for pallbearers (people who carry the coffin) and decorate the site of funeral services and the site of burial. At the burial site, they arrange for a tent to be set up over the grave site and chairs placed nearest the casket for family members to sit while the graveside service is being conducted. If musicians, such as bagpipers, are needed at the gravesite funeral home directors arrange that as well. 

Funeral home directors are there to serve families who have lost loved ones and they are never too busy or too distracted to take time to sit down and help or listen in any way they are needed. 

If you’d like to meet with a funeral home director about Youngtown, AZ cremations, you can speak with our empathetic and knowledgeable staff at Simply Cremation & Funeral Arrangements. You can come to our funeral home at 16952 W. Bell Rd., #303, Surprise, AZ, 85374, or you can contact us today at (623) 975-9393.