Memorial Services

Unlike a traditional funeral, a memorial service is a gathering where a casket is not present (although the urn with the cremated remains may be on display). A memorial service can be held weeks or even months after the death and cremation or burial.

A memorial service can be held in a local Weirton or New Cumberland church, our funeral home, a community offering like the Williams Golf & Country Club or Giovanni'a Banquet Hall, or somewhere of importance to the deceased and family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. Memorial services can be further personalized as a celebration-of-life.

Our experience has shown us that many of today's families want more than a traditional funeral. This can be done by bringing more of the personality and lifestyle of the deceased into the arrangements. By displaying photographs or staging the event around a favorite pastime, a memorial service can become more personal and meaningful.

If a personalized memorial service suits the needs of your family, we suggest you consider the following questions:

• What did your loved one like to do?
• What was he or she like as an individual?
• What was their profession and how did that shape their life?
• Was your loved one spiritual?
• Was he or she proud of their cultural or ethnic heritage? 

Rather than opting to do things "the same old way", many families today want to celebrate the life of a loved one. Many funeral service professionals see this change as one of the many contributions to social change made by "Baby Boomers". The National Funeral Directors Association notes, "As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful." If you too desire to make the funeral for a loved one more engaging and personally meaningful, a celebration-of-life may be the perfect concept to build on.

The biggest difference of a traditional funeral and a memorial service is that the body is not present in a casket at a memorial service. However, an urn with the loved one’s ashes may be present at a memorial service. Both traditional funeral services and memorial services have structure, and both bring our community together in support and remembrance. However, a traditional funeral ceremony has much more order and structure. A traditional funeral service commonly has specific rituals and is often associated with religion so it is led by a member of clergy, whereas a memorial service is led by a celebrant or master of ceremonies. Memorial services often give guests an opportunity to participate to some level, where guests of a traditional funeral are really just there to observe and reflect. 

We give you the option to have only a wake or small gathering before the cremation. This option is perfect if you do not want any type of ceremony, but want to give people the opportunity to come pay their respects and give their condolences. It is also a great option if you just wish to have a small, intimate gathering with the immediate family and friends. 

Often times when people think of funerals they think of ceremonies that take place at a cemetery. If you want to stick to these traditional roots, we can have our funeral directors arrange and supervise this type of ceremony.