What to Expect When You Arrive at the Funeral Home

One of the first things the funeral arranger will do is to provide you with our general price list. He or she will then guide you through the entire arrangement process, explaining how you can create a memorable personal celebration of your loved one's life. This is not a one-way conversation; we want to hear your ideas and desires, and use them as the foundation for the arrangement process.

This process may include:

• Preparing and filing the official death certificate
• Scheduling the location, date and time of services or events
• Selecting a casket, urn or other items
• Preparing an obituary notice
• Scheduling vehicles
• Selecting pallbearers

You may also sign necessary authorizations or make arrangements to have them signed by the appropriate family members.

We’d like you to bring any photos, a favorite song, or memorabilia so that you and your funeral arranger can better discuss how you would like your loved one to be remembered. Having these things, and knowing their favorite song or favorite gathering place – even their favorite activity – will help us create a truly fitting memorial service.

Our funeral arrangers will assist you in planning a loving tribute that captures the spirit of the person whose life you wish to honor. To learn more about personalizing the service, please read the Honoring Life section of this Web site. The funeral arranger will discuss personalization with you during your arrangement conference.

The following checklist will help you remember what information about the decedent and items will be needed when meeting with a funeral arranger.

• Full legal name
• Home address
• Social Security number
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Father's name
• Mother's maiden name
• Veteran's discharge papers (DD-214)
• Recent Photograph
• Highest education
• Occupation
• Place of burial (if applicable)
• Clothing
• Clergy name and phone number
• Survivors (name and relationship)
• Insurance policies (if applicable)

Widening the Circle

Our staff members are experienced professionals who can provide much of the information you need, emotional support and compassionate guidance.

While you may ask the director any questions at this time, you will be able to discuss the arrangements in detail later when you meet in person. During this initial call, the funeral director will gather information to be able to transport your loved one to the funeral home.

The funeral director may ask you several questions, including whether your loved one made any pre-arrangements. The director will also schedule a date and time for you to meet at the funeral home and will let you know what you should bring with you. Others you will need to call are:

• Family members and friends
• Clergy or other spiritual advisors

When A Death Occurs While Under Supervised Care

When a death occurs in a care facility, such as a hospital or nursing home, the professional staff will notify you and the necessary authorities. If the name of the funeral home has been left with them, the institution will notify the funeral home at the time of the death. The funeral director will contact you immediately following their notification to help you proceed. (However, we suggest you contact the funeral home immediately, so you've got the reassurance you need that all is taken care of properly.)

If a loved one was in the care of a hospice program, a hospice representative will give family members instructions and procedures to follow. The coroner/medical examiner will be notified by hospice. Following their release the hospice will contact the funeral home. It is always a good idea for the family to contact us immediately so that we will be aware of the pending call from hospice.

When A Death Occurs At Home or at Work

When a death occurs at home or in the workplace, a family member or co-worker should contact emergency personnel. If the death occurs at home with family or friends present, and the person is under a physician's care, the family will want to call us directly.

However, if the death occurs in a residence and no one is there at the time of death, the police will need to be notified and respond to the residence before the deceased is removed from their home.

If in any case you are not sure of who to notify or what to do, you may call Bryan-Braker, and we'll assist you in notifying the proper agencies.

Does Pre-planning Require Pre-payment?

The simple answer is just two letters: No. You can set plan to paper by simply recording your wishes, and leave it for your family to pay for your desired services at the time of your passing.

Or, you can protect you and your family from inflation, by pre-funding your plan. This ensures your expenses will be covered when you need them to be.

When you choose to pre-fund your final arrangements, your money is put in a state-approved trust account or top-rated insurance company until required. After your pre-plan is paid for in full, our price is guaranteed. You will never have to pay more for the services you have already paid for.

Another point we’d like to stress: When you pre-plan with Bryan-Braker Funeral Home, your plan will go where you go. No matter where you reside at the time of your passing, no matter what funeral home you choose to work with, your plan will be transferable to any funeral home in the United States.

Why Pre-Plan with Bryan-Braker Funeral Home?

By pre-planning with us, you’re assured that your final wishes are known. This relieves your family of the burden of making difficult decisions, under emotional duress. Through pre-funding your plan, expenses will be covered when you need them to be. That's guaranteed.

Our plans offer a variety of payment options to fit your needs. Choose the payment option that's right for you.

Honoring Life

Honoring the life of your loved one means you value the relationship you shared. We look forward to helping you decide how to celebrate that bond, and honor the unique individual you've lost.

We can make suggestions to enhance your tribute ideas. Together we will create a fitting and memorable event. Contact us today to discuss the possibilities.

Heavenly Heights Bouquet

Beautifully feminine. Serene but strong. This pretty basket of pink flowers is a lovely way to show you care.

• A mix of fresh pink blossoms like gladioli, alstroemeria, carnations and more are lovingly arranged in a white basket.

• This arrangement will be hand designed and delivered by a local florist.

• An appropriate gift sent from a family member, friend, or business associate.

• Appropriate to send directly to the funeral home, or to the family's residence.

• Arrangement measures approximately 23" W X 33" H.

• Our florists use only the freshest flowers available, so colors and varieties may vary.

• Please note, the container/vase pictured may not be available. A similar style container/vase may be substituted.  

• Due to seasonal and/or daily availability of flowers, orders will be filled as similar as possible to the item   chosen. 

http://www.bryanbraker.com/store/home-or-office/heavenly-heights-bouquet

Questions That May Need Answers

If there is no pre-arrangements in place, there are several other questions that you will need to have answered in regards to the death of your loved one:

• Do I have to have embalming?
• Do I need to purchase a casket?
• What about cemetery arrangements?
• Does the family have to engage the services of a minister?
• What type of service should we have?

By contacting our staff, we'll be able to help answer your questions and assist in making the appropriate plans. You can reach us at (707) 425-4697.

However, one of the best ways to make sure that all of your questions and desires are taken care of is to make pre-arrangements. This is as simple as outlining your wishes to having all of the details written down and the financial arrangements prepaid. Please contact one of our staff at (707) 425-4697 to learn more about pre-arrangement.

A Special Scar

The Experiences of People Bereaved by Suicide by Alison Wertheimer.

Every 85 minutes someone in the UK takes their own life, but what happens to those left behind? In a society where suicide is often viewed with fear or disapproval, it can be difficult for those personally affected by a suicide death to come to terms with their loss and seek help and support.

• A Special Scar looks in detail at the stigma surrounding suicide and offers practical help for survivors, relatives and friends of people who have taken their own life.

• Fifty bereaved people tell their own stories, showing us that, by not hiding the truth from themselves and others, they have been able to learn to live with the suicide, offering hope to others facing this traumatic loss. This new, revised edition includes new material on:

* counseling survivors of suicide

* group work with survivors.

• The new material incorporates the latest research findings which have added significantly to our understanding of the impact of suicide, an area which the UK Government has targeted for action in the mental health arena. This new edition will continue to be an invaluable resource for survivors of suicide as well as for all those who are in contact with them, including police and coroner's officers, bereavement services, self-help organizations for survivors, mental health professionals, social workers, GPs, counselors and therapists.

• Alison Wertheimer has been working as a freelance writer and researcher since 1987, after working in the voluntary sector for twenty years. She has a private counseling practice, is a supervisor with a bereavement counseling service and runs workshops on the impact of suicide bereavement. 288 pages.

http://www.bryanbraker.com/store/general-grief-loss-books/a-special-scar

Angel of Courage

This precious Angel of Courage is crafted of Sterling Silver Antiqued CZ -designed by Deborah J. Birdoes, from her "Sentimental Expressions" line of jewelry.

• Includes an 18" chain with spring ring clasp and comes packaged in a stylish magnetic gift box, to protect the jewelry that has so much to say.

• Also included is a poem card with the poem and verse printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other.

This angel is for those whose path is on the road of courage. You have carried your weight of what you are going through and still plowed forward. You have stepped out of your zone of comfort to fulfill your vision. Obstacles and challenges have not held you back. In fact you have grown stronger and more confident, making the courage you have inside grow.

VERSE: I command you- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." —Joshua 1:9

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of

the day saying, I will try again tomorrow.” —Mary Anne Radmacher

http://www.bryanbraker.com/store/sentiments-of-faith/angel-of-courage