“For thousands of years, funerals have been a means of expressing our beliefs, thoughts and feelings about the death of someone we love.” ~Alan Wolfelt, Ph D, Why do We Have Funerals?

The funeral ceremony:
• Allows us to say good-bye
• Provides a social support system for us and other friends and family members
• Allows us to search for the meaning of life and death
• Offers continuity and hope for the living

Meaningful funeral ceremonies are rites of passage. They help us move from life before death to the life after death. The funeral provides us a safe place to affirm the worth of our relationship with the person who died and express our feeling of loss.

Choosing The Service You Want
We know that each family has its own needs, traditions and customs. These are important in planning a remembrance of what is of what was important in an individual’s life.

At Moorhead Epps Funeral Home we offer a full range of funeral arrangements. We will be happy to assist your family arrange a traditional funeral service, a non-traditional funeral service, a memorial funeral service and many choices in cremation options.

Traditional Services
• Family and friends normally attend
• Services are held at a place of worship, at graveside or at the funeral home
• A casketed body is normally present
• A defined order of service is followed
• Burial or cremation typically follows as a way of disposition of the body

Memorial Service
• A memorial service is held without the body present
• A memorial service may be held at the funeral home, church, or at a place meaningful to the deceased, such as a favorite gathering spot, at an open house at someone’s house, the golf course, the lake or a park.
• Photographs of the deceased and memorabilia form his or her life may be brought to the service to help focus on the person being remembered
• A friend or an officiate will help exchange favorite stories of the deceased and reflect on his or her life

Satisfaction Guaranteed
It is your family, your feelings and your money. At Moorhead Epps Funeral Home we believe a family deserves real quality and value in a funeral service. Moorhead Epps Funeral Home is dedicated to providing the best service to every family we serve. Our dedication to service is guarantee of satisfaction. Moorhead Epps Funeral Home’s experience and family ownership allow us to offer a “Service Guarantee”. If a family is ever dissatisfied with any part of our funeral service we will refund that portion of our charge

Helpful Guidelines

Things to Consider
We know when a love one dies; the loss can be very difficult for the survivors. It can also be a freighting and confusing time as they are called upon to make many decisions before, during and after the funeral. Often, it may be the first time that a family has experienced a death in their family and they do not know what to do. To help the families we serve, we have developed the following guidelines that are important to consider in making funeral arrangements.

When A Death Occurs
The very first thing a family should do is considering Moorhead Epps Funeral Home. Our Funeral directors will offer immediate assistance in making arrangements for the care of the deceased and to work with the family to arrange funeral services.

When death occurs away from home, we are both your advisor and your agent working with other professionals’ long distance to coordinate the many services required to bring your love one home.

We belong to a nationwide association of funeral directors, which greatly enhances our ability to efficiently coordinate the legal and practical details of a death away from home.

The family will need to provide a variety of information that will be recorded on the service profile.
• Vital statistics about the deceased including full name, address, social security number, birth date, marital status, ect.
• Personal history of the deceased such as education, employment, military service, memberships and general biographical information, etc.
• Clergy to be contacted
• A list of surviving children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters
• Notices in the news papers and other media
• Type of funeral services desired
• Type of casket, vault or urn
• Musical selections
• Scriptural selections, poetry, readings
• Floral request
• Clothing, jewelry, make up, hair and other requests
• Pall bears
• Type of dispassion; earth burial, entombment, cremation, ect.

During The Funeral Service
Although the funeral service is designed to celebrate and honor the life of the deceased, it is also a tine for the family and friends to deal with the reality of the death. During the time of the formal funeral service, a family may wish to consider the following suggestions:
• Share feelings and memories with family and friends
• Include children in the funeral service
• Be patient and take things slowly
• Take extra time to get ready for the event
• Get as much rest as possible
• Try to eat balanced meals

Acknowledgement Etiquette
The following suggestions are provided for acknowledging those who took part in the funeral service and expressed their sympathy in various ways.
Within two weeks of the funeral:
• Send a personal note to the clergy thanking them for their help. If a gratuity is offered, it may be included with the note.
• Send a note to pallbears and friends who volunteered services, sent flowers, made offerings, contributed memorials, or provided food.
• Reply to letters and telegrams with a brief note. Sympathy cards do not require a reply.

After The Funeral
The process of grieving and adjustment continues long after the funeral ceremony is over. There will be challenges and adjustments for the family and friends in the days and weeks after the funeral. Several suggestions that may help the adjustment process include:
• Inquire about bereavement services and support groups
• Make necessary changes to bank, charge, investment and mortgage accounts
• Update insurance policies
• Update personal property and motor vehicle records
• Update your will
• Be alert to people who try to defraud you during your recovery period
• Postpone making important decisions for at least a year, if at all possible
• Consider prearranging and pre-funding your funeral

Understand that life is a series of changes and that death is one of the most difficult. Allow plenty of time and opportunity to express grief.

Estate Settlement
Almost everyone needs a will. If you die without a will, state law will determine who inherits your property. Under a death, the Will must be probated and the estate administrated. The Will is formally offered in court the personal representative is approved by the court; estate inventory is prepared and filed, debtd and taxes are recognized and paid; and finally the representative files his or her account and request that the estate assets be transferred to the designated beneficiaries. This takes time and requires the service of an attorney. In the absence of a Will, the procedure is the same except that the court makes many of the critical decisions.

Financial Benefits
Listed below are possible sources of financial assistance that a family may want investigate:
• Family savings
• Pre-funded trust or funeral plans
• Insurance policies, life health or accident
• Social Security
• Veterans Administration
• Employer or union pension funds