Cremation Services - Answers to Your Questions

Cremation of the human body is a practice that dates back thousands of years. Over the last 15 to 20 years, cremation services have become increasingly popular in Canada. The choice between cremation and burying the body in its whole form is a highly personal decision, which may also be affected by factors including cost.

At Fawcett Funeral Home, we encourage clients to pick the option that is preferable to them. We won’t influence you to pick traditional burial over cremation services or vice versa. Rather we will sit down with you to discuss the options in detail.

Whether you or your loved one chooses cremation or burial, the biggest myth surrounding cremation services is that no funeral service accompanies cremation. In fact, the deceased can be cremated before or after a funeral service. We recommend that families begin the healing process with a memorial service to mark their loved one’s passing. It may leave a gaping hole of grief in people’s lives if they don’t come together with others to acknowledge the death.

While it is certainly possible for us to pick up your loved one, cremate them and return them to you, we suggest marking their death with a funeral service or a gathering at home or elsewhere. This is an opportunity to share memories and offer each other support.

Another myth is that burial does not accompany cremation services. In fact, if your family owns a plot at a cemetery, you can put cremated remains on top of a traditional burial. It varies by cemetery and municipality, but in some cases you can do one traditional burial and three cremated remains in one plot. This gives you a permanent resting spot for your cremated loved one.

Cost of Cremation Services

Clients often wonder if cremation services are more affordable than traditional burial services. Cremation typically costs one-third of the price of a traditional burial, however the cost varies depending on the products that people select and the ultimate resting place of the remains. We can guide you with those decisions. For example, we would not recommend buying an expensive casket just for cremation. The costs of urns also vary.

How Cremation Works

In our modern facility, we store the body in a cool, temperature-controlled room until it’s time for cremation. We remove pacemakers, prostheses and silicone implants. We then transfer the body to a container or casket made out of flammable materials such as plywood, pine or cardboard.

Traditional cremation involves exposing the body to high temperatures until it transitions to brittle, calcified bones (or ashes). We return these ashes to the family in a temporary urn or a more personal urn they have selected. The cremated ashes can be kept, buried or scattered. Some families choose to place a loved one’s cremated remains in a hand-crafted piece of cremation art.

You are welcome to sit down with Fawcett Funeral Home staff to discuss cremation options. We appreciate the opportunity to share our insights and experience to fully support you in making end-of-life decisions for you and your family. Contact us to schedule an appointment, or drop by our office.

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