The templates are created using Microsoft Word 2003 (or higher) and are very easy to update.  Simply add a picture and replace the text with your own information including order of service, funeral poems, songs, scriptures, family photo collages and much more.  Templates come in  two different layouts (bifold and trifold) and a variety of colors, designs and themes including Floral, Religious, and Landscape. Also offered are matching thank you card templates that allow you to print custom thank you cards right from your home printer.

Planning a funeral or memorial service can be a daunting task.  Families have a very short amount of time to complete a myriad of tasks.  Elegant Memorials helps ease this process by offering funeral program templates that are very easy to use, very professional looking and reasonably priced.   The funeral program templates allow families and friends to produce a professional looking funeral program that helps reflect the uniqueness of their loved one.

Learn more about Elegant Memorials funeral program templates.

Thousands of horrified family members converged upon the cemetery, looking for answers. To some, the disruption of a loved one’s remains ripped open the wounds of grief, and survivors felt as if they were experiencing the death and loss for the first time. More than 200 families planned to file a class-action lawsuit against the cemetery’s owners. According to lead attorney Paul Shuldiner, “There’s a lot of grief, bewilderment and anger” among the families. Understandably so.

What happened at Burr Oak Cemetery?
Burr Oak is ­– or was – the final resting place of approximately 100,000 people. It is a historic cemetery, where many prominent African Americans are buried, including Emmett Till, the 14-year-old whose lynching and torture in 1955 in Mississippi helped ignite the civil rights movement, as well as blues singers Dinah Washington and Willie Dixon, boxer Ezzard Charles, and several Negro League baseball players.

Four current and former cemetery employees, including the manager, have been charged with dismemberment of human bodies, a felony that carries a sentence of 6 to 30 years in prison upon conviction. At a news conference, Dart said he suspected that “irregularities” had occurred at the cemetery for at least four years and possibly much longer. He also warned that the desecration could involve many more bodies than the original estimate of 300.

Why did they do it? Greed, according to officials, who say the accused employees resold burial plots and split the money they made, approximately $300,000. To make room for the new burials, the cemetery workers allegedly excavated some caskets and dumped human remains and headstones in an unused part of the cemetery. In other cases the workers crushed caskets into the ground and buried new ones on top of them.

Families who want to know what happened to their loved one’s remains may be in for a long and frustrating wait. Members of FBI evidence-recovery teams, some of whom worked on the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing and the 9/11 crash of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, are sifting through evidence. According to FBI spokesman Ross Rice, it’s impossible to estimate how long the probe will take.

If there’s a hero in this story, it’s the cemetery worker, referred to as “Employee A” in court documents, who accidentally came upon evidence of the disturbed graves. Ignoring warnings from the exposed workers to keep his discovery to himself or risk losing his job, he told another coworker about what he’d seen, and that coworker reported the crime to the cemetery’s owners.

Hawaii’s cremation rate highest in nation
Almost 70% of Hawaiians are cremated at death, making Hawaii’s cremation rate the highest in the nation, according to The Cremation Association of North America. One reason so many islanders choose cremation is to serve the greater good – Hawaii’s land shortage is a perennial concern, and cremation is seen as a responsible way to preserve open lands for future generations.

Those who choose to donate their bodies prior to cremation not only leave a gift of life through the advancement of medical research, but also have the relief of knowing that their loved ones will not be saddled with the expense of a traditional funeral, which can run as high as $10,000 or more.

Gifts for Life less restrictive than other donor programs
While the desire to leave a meaningful legacy runs high, good intentions often aren’t enough. Medical schools that accept whole body donations are often governed by strict exclusionary regulations. Many schools, for instance, will not accept donations from people who have undergone amputations or donated health organs to save another’s life. Some programs also charge a hefty fee to the family or estate of the deceased for transportation of the body to the medical school.

Gifts for Life, in contrast, accepts virtually all donations except in cases of communicable diseases like AIDS, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C; extensive trauma at death; or advanced decomposition, which would make the body unsuitable for anatomical study. There is no upper age limit for whole body donation, nor does amputation automatically preclude acceptance.

“Being able to receive donations for learning is imperative to ground-breaking medical research,” says Dr. Greg Gerber of Gifts for Life, noting that there is no computer model or other acceptable substitute for a human cadaver in anatomical research.

How it works
State of Hawaii laws (HRS 327) permit an individual 18 years or older to donate his or her body to an appropriate organization, such as Gifts For Life. If an individual dies without signing a donation form, the next-of-kin or personal agent may authorize the donation of the remains, but if the donor is still living, he or she must personally complete the donation process. Gifts for Life will mail donation forms upon request, or the forms may be downloaded from the organization’s website (http://www.giftsforlifehawaii.com). The forms must be filled out and returned to GFL (the services of a lawyer or notary are not required to complete the process). Upon examination of the documents, GFL staff will issue a letter of acceptance and a donor identification card.

The only cost to the family or estate “may be the cost of transporting the deceased to a facility with refrigerated holding facilities (mortuary) if the person dies at home or in a facility that does not have refrigerated holding facilities,” according to GFL’s website.

Following study of the body, typically within 3 months after the donation, Gifts for Life will cremate the remains and either return them to the family or perform a memorial ceremony on the peaceful waters surrounding the islands.

The number of people opting for cremation over traditional burial may be on the rise across the United States, but nowhere is the trend more evident than in Florida.

Since 1958, the cremation rate in North America has risen from approximately 5 percent to nearly 35 percent. According to projections by the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), cremations will lead across the country by 2025. But in Lee County, Florida alone, cremations accounted for 64 percent of final arrangements made in 2008, almost twice the number of burials and entombments combined.

Economy, ecology, and geography fuel cremation trend
In addition to the reasons commonly cited for choosing cremation – such as lower costs, environmental concerns, and religious customs, for example – Florida’s geography may also contribute to the Sunshine State’s increasing cremation rate. Funeral directors say that people who relocate to sunny coastal areas often leave behind their social networks; without friends and family nearby, traditional burial in a traditional cemetery doesn’t have the significance it might have in one’s hometown.

Florida also offers some unique alternatives for the final disposition of cremains, rather than placing a stationary cremation urn in a columbarium niche or on a library shelf. For the adventurous, Celestis, Inc., a Houston-based company, will handle cremation arrangements and send the cremated remains into space via private-industry satellites launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Water lovers and those who are looking for an environmentally friendly alternative to burial, on the other hand, can have their ashes buried in artificial coral reefs in the ocean floor.

Florida is also the original home of the Neptune Society, an organization that assists people in planning their cremations in advance. Founded in Fort Lauderdale in 1973, the Neptune Society now has offices in 45 locations throughout the country.

Baby boomers, many of whom are now retiring to Florida, also contribute to the growing support for cremation in Florida and elsewhere. According to Silvia Marchini, a sales manager for the Neptune Society in Fort Myers, boomers are “not as traditional” as their parents were.

Military Cremation Urns and Flag Case

In the U.S., we honor the veterans of our Armed Forces for their service and their sacrifice. The cost of serving one’s country is great, after all; military personnel typically face financial hardship, prolonged separation from their loved ones, and tremendous risk of physical, mental or emotional illness and injury. Some pay the ultimate price, dying in service to their country.

But many veterans die in poverty, and while the U.S. government provides funeral benefits for qualifying veterans, gaining access to those benefits can be a challenge. In many cases, families may not know or understand the benefits their loved one is entitled to, or they may not know how to claim them.

Kindness and Gratitude, Multiplied
A couple of years ago, Andy Scheid, of Andrew T. Scheid Funeral Home in Millersville, Pennsylvania, learned of a World War II veteran who had died penniless. Scheid was moved by the veteran’s unfortunate circumstance to provide, at no charge, a burial with full military honors, even ensuring that the deceased, a Purple Heart recipient, had a proper suit to wear.

As a result of that experience and his determination to help other veterans and their families, Scheid became a provider of Veterans Funeral Care (VFC) services.

Veterans Funeral Care
Founded in Clearwater, Florida as “the first full-service funeral home in America built to serve the veteran and military community,” VFC has grown into a network of more than 100 providers, all dedicated to assisting loved ones with every detail of cremation and funeral arrangements for veterans and their families. Beyond coordinating funeral logistics, VFC also assists families in applying for all applicable veterans’ benefits, Social Security benefits, and life insurance and arranging military honors.

Veterans Funeral Care purports to save families up to 40% on the cost of a traditional funeral or cremation. A good part of that savings comes from taking advantage of available veterans’ benefits, such as burial in a national cemetery. All honorably discharged veterans and their spouses and dependent children are entitled to a free burial plot, cemetery marker and burial vault at any national cemetery, which can add up to a savings of $6,000, according to the VFC website. With the cost of a traditional funeral often exceeding $10,000 in the U.S., the average cost of just under $3,800 for a VFC funeral is a godsend for many veterans and their families.

“Private or general, you’re all the same”
Scheid, whose interest in veterans’ causes stems from his father’s service during the Korean War era, says his primary goal is to make sure veterans’ families are aware of all the benefits they’re entitled to. “(T)he majority of veterans are not wealthy people. Whether you’re a private or a general, you’re all the same,” says Scheid.

The kindness of strangers
Paul Betts, a former highway designer, heard a radio report last year about the increasing number of unclaimed bodies resulting from the recession. Perhaps the deceased were estranged from loved ones, or perhaps families lacked the funds to provide a proper funeral. Betts understood that Wayne County had a contract with a local funeral home to bury the dead, but the fact that no one was present to mourn their passing troubled him deeply.

A call to the county coroner put Betts in touch with Bill Kiesgen, the funeral director at Perry Funeral Home. The state and county pay the funeral home $700 per cremation or burial, and the funeral home splits the fee with the cemetery. Together, Betts and Kiesgen devised a plan to hold a monthly  prayer service for the deceased who have no one else to pray for them. As Betts saw it, “We’ve got a lot of abandoned buildings we can’t do anything about. Abandoned people, we can at least pray for.”

Although the Unclaimed Friends services, held on the third Wednesday of every month, are open to everyone, most of those who attend are members of the Episcopal parish where Betts is a member. Kiesgen supplies a white rose for each of the deceased – in March, there were 24 white roses – and Betts gives a metal angel to each of the guests. One by one, the names of the deceased are read aloud, and mourners respond, “May he (or she) rest in peace.”

Everyone deserves a farewell
“Everyone deserves some sort of a farewell,” according to Kiesgen, who doesn’t judge the families of the deceased, reasoning that they may have faced a choice of whether to feed their living members or bury the one who died.

Following the service, Betts encourages the guests to pass their angels and roses on to others with a request that they, too, pray for the stranger whose name is on the rose. He thanks everyone for coming and expresses his hope that by participating in the service, they have made Detroit a little kinder place.

Affordable Cremation Urns

The funeral business has always been considered recession-proof. Everyone dies eventually, after all, guaranteeing an endless customer base. And, with the rapid aging of the ubiquitous baby boom generation, the demand for funeral goods and services is sure to rise in the coming years. But demand is only part of the equation; today, more and more families are opting out of the expensive frills that escalate funeral costs.

Only “the best” for your loved one
I was 25 when my father-in-law died suddenly, and although I had no experience in such matters, I was designated to make arrangements. I recall the funeral director steering toward a high-end casket and describing the $10,000 funeral that went with it. “Surely, you’ll want the best for your father?” he said.

A faint smile crossed my lips; not only was my name not Shirley, but this funeral director obviously didn’t know Jack (which happened to be the name of my father-in-law). Jack would drive halfway across town to save a penny on a gallon of gas. When I went shopping – for groceries, clothing, or whatever – Jack, who virtually lived with my family, would ask how much I paid for a given item, eagerly waiting for my reply before he gleefully told me what a sap I was and where I could have gotten it cheaper. A thrifty but lovable curmudgeon, that Jack.

“Can we see something more affordable, please?” I replied. “Best,” after all, is in the eye of the beholder.

Affordable Cremation Urns

Consumers demand flexible, lower-cost funerals
That was many years ago, long before the global recession of the early 21st century. Bargain shopping for funeral goods and services wasn’t yet in vogue, but the lessons I gleaned from that experience made it easier for me to assist my own parents in planning their funerals a decade later.

Today, many factors have influenced the shift in the way we approach funerals. The Federal Trade Commission’s Funeral Rule requires full price disclosure by providers of funeral goods and services, and allows families to choose only those items they want and need. And savvy, cash-strapped consumers are opting not only for “the best,” but also simplicity and cost savings.

Funeral service providers who get it are stepping up to offer discounted goods and services, and they’re thriving as a result. Take Newcomer Funeral Homes in Topeka, Kansas for example. Newcomer, where a casketed funeral costs just $4,000, saw a 10 percent increase in business in 2008. And Barton Family Funeral Service near Seattle charges just $695 for a cremation; they’ve watched their business double every year since 2005, to a point where they’re conducting around 140 funerals a month – more than some traditional funeral homes see in a year.

Practical suggestions for cutting funeral costs
Opting for cremation over burial is just one way families are reducing funeral expenses. Following are some suggestions we’ve heard for having “the best” funeral with the lowest cost:

• Let your fingers do the walking. Call around to funeral homes and ask for their price lists.
• Be wary of package pricing. Choose only the specific goods and services you want and need.
• Buy a casket from a discount supplier. The funeral home is obligated to use the casket you provide, and they can’t charge an added fee for doing so.
• Go natural. Embalming and leak-proof caskets are unnecessary expenses in most circumstances. “Green” funerals are friendly to the environment and the wallet.
• Let the funeral home conduct the burial or cremation, but hold a memorial service at home or in a peaceful outdoor setting.
• Ask friends and family to help with funeral details, from selecting a musical playlist to purchasing flowers to creating a program for guests. You’ll avoid extra charges for these services, and the funeral or memorial service will be far more personal and meaningful.

Eligibility for Burial at Sea
According to information on the U.S. Navy’s website, those who are eligible for burial at sea include “Active duty, retired, honorably discharged veterans and their family members, U.S. civilian marine personnel of Military Sealift Command, other U.S. citizens who are determined eligible by the Chief of Naval Operations because of notable service and/or other contributions to our government.”

Petty Officer 2nd Class Whit Sloane is the burial-at-sea coordinator with the Navy’s Office Of Mortuary Affairs and one of only 16 Navy morticians. According to Sloane, the Navy receives about 500 to 600 requests each year for burial at sea, and almost all of them are granted. Sloane says that while most of the requests come from Navy retirees or veterans, “we get requests from all branches of the military.”

Burial-at-Sea Requirements
Families must meet specific requirements for a burial at sea, and while the Navy doesn’t charge for its services, families are responsible for any related costs, including expenses related to preparation of the body and transportation. If the deceased is to be buried in a casket, for example, the remains must be prepared by a funeral home, and the casket must be made of metal, with 150 pounds of weight added to the foot of the casket to ensure it sinks feet-first to the ocean floor. The remains must then be transported to Norfolk, Virginia or San Diego, California, the only Navy ports from which burials at sea are conducted.

Because the burial ceremony is held on a naval vessel while deployed on official maneuvers, family members are not allowed onboard for the burial. The crew will typically photograph or videotape the ceremony, however, and afterward, the Navy will present the family with the flags used during the ceremony, as well as the shells from the rounds fired during the salute and navigational charts that mark the location of the burial.

To learn more about the burial-at-sea program, visit the Navy’s website at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/questions/burial.html.

In recent years, pre-need contracts have been touted by some in the funeral industry as a way for consumers to control costs. Customers who sign pre-need contracts pay their funeral costs in advance in order to lock in current prices for funeral goods and services that are likely to escalate in the coming years.

Problems with pre-need contracts
While the terms of pre-need contracts can vary from one funeral home to another, the basics are the same: a person chooses a casket or cremation urn and any services he or she wants and then pays for the package either in a lump sum or in monthly installments. If the pre-need contract is paid in full at the time of death, the family won’t have to concern themselves with making funeral arrangements or scrambling to find a way to pay for them.

In some states, funeral homes or third-party sellers of pre-need contracts are allowed to take a percentage of the money up front for commissions and expenses, as well as the interest that accrues on the money paid by the consumer.

Unfortunately, there have been reports of problems with pre-need contracts from many states, from cheap, imported caskets that fail to meet the quality the consumer paid for, to a disturbing rise in funeral home fraud and mismanagement complaints. Some consumers have been unable to recover the money they prepaid after they cancel a pre-need contract, and some families have been forced to pay thousands of dollars more for funerals than the contract stipulated. In the most blatant cases of fraud, some funeral directors have essentially stolen the money from prepaid contracts and used it for their own purposes.

Another problem with pre-need funeral contracts is the fact that they’re not portable, but rather require the consumer to use the services of the funeral home that issued the contract – a significant downside in today’s mobile society.

Pre-planning makes sense
Pre-planning is another matter, however. The major difference between pre-planning and pre-need contracts is that pre-planning doesn’t require any money to change hands. For individuals who want to make sure their desires are carried out when they die and don’t wish to burden their families with worries about funeral services, caskets, burial or cremation and the like at a time when family members are likely to be overcome by grief, pre-planning may be the way to go.

Another reason we think that pre-planning makes more sense than a pre-need contract is the fact that people change their minds. If you sign a contract designating a certain type of casket and a cemetery where you wish to be buried, for example, and then later decide you’d prefer to be cremated and have some of your ashes scattered and the rest retained in a cremation urn, it’s much easier to change your plan than to amend your contract or get a refund. The same is true if you wish to add new services not considered in your contract, such as a green funeral or the use of technology to webcast your funeral.

Bottom line
Pre-planning your funeral can mean peace of mind for yourself and your family, but when it comes to paying for the arrangements, we recommend using the proceeds from life insurance or setting up a special account to save for your final expenses.

Like trimming the grocery budget or turning off extra lights in the house, consumers may look for ways to lower funeral costs, but the fact is, we all die eventually, and someone has to deal with the remains. Some funeral industry professionals are responding to the economic downturn by offering a wider range of goods and services to help people arrange their final exit in the style of their choosing.

One Funeral Director’s Response
Peter Moloney, whose family owns six funeral homes on Long Island, has made it his mission to help customers arrange unique funerals on behalf of themselves or their loved ones. From a hearse towed by a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to an ice-cream vendor in a Good Humor truck greeting mourners after a funeral, Moloney’s specialized services allow people to be remembered in ways as unique as they are. According to Moloney, 44, a fourth-generation funeral director: “You have to give people something special. If you’re not, someone else will be. That means adjusting to what people want today.”

Even in Recession, Many Opt to Go in Style
As funerals trend more toward cremation and home funerals and away from elaborate caskets with all the trimmings, consumers are driving the recession home to the funeral industry. One of the ways innovative funeral directors like Moloney are responding is by catering to individual wants and needs. For example, services for environmentally and cost-conscious families may include renting coffins and minimizing the use of chemicals, while custom amenities such as 14-karat gold mementos and personalized coffins and cremation urns appeal to people who prefer to go in style.

Growing Market
One thing funeral directors and others in the funeral industry can count on, even in economic hard times, is an endless stream of clients. And while consumer funeral spending may be on the decline, the rising number of deaths each year ensures a certain level of growth in funeral goods and services. (The annual death rate will continue to grow at about 1 percent per year through the early 2020s, corresponding to the aging of the baby boomers.)

In other words, while the recession is forcing funeral industry professionals to reconsider the goods and services they will offer and how they will deliver them, those who are prepared to adapt and evolve will continue to prosper.