Why Do a Home Funeral?

Given that a home funeral is likely unfamiliar and daunting, why would you chose to do it? While saving money may be a factor, the desire to participate in a loved one’s death care is by far more the prevalent reason. And the deceased may have requested a home funeral, taking comfort in the idea of being tended by loved ones in a familiar environment.

When people relegate death care to a licensed death care professional at a funeral home, they are isolated from much of the process. They may not have the opportunity to understand what happens to their loved one’s body, what choices they can make and how they can contribute. This is the last opportunity to care for the decedent’s physical form. People using professional death care are also somewhat isolated from the reality of death. Participating in death care can integrate death into life. Finally, families using professional death care are also often subjected to a standardized sequence of events and time line. Home funerals have more flexibility regarding both. It also allows more “face time” with the deceased. Home funeral professionals, like home care advocate Nancy Poer in A Family Undertaking, state that people who participate in home funerals tend to heal faster emotionally.

For more reading, author Max Alexander provides a personal story of home funerals.

Lisa S.
August 6, 2010