Every life has a story. At Walton's, we're committed to helping you celebrate and honor the people who have been most important to you.
Our Services
Our ideas about funerals come from many places: our geographic location, the culture and society we live in, our faith, and our life experience. Funeral services in Borneo look very different from those held in Tanzania, and there are even significant differences between the funerals held in ethnically and/or geographically diverse regions of North America.
Despite these differences, funeral services have much in common. As you weigh which type of service is right for you, keep in mind that these choices are extremely personal and situational. What is most important is that you and your loved ones feel you are doing the right thing for the deceased, and that the service becomes a meaningful ceremony that offers closure to those who are grieving.
Traditional Funeral Services
A funeral service, whether traditional or more modern (such as a memorial service or celebration of life), has two functions: to acknowledge the death and lifetime achievements of an individual, and to bring grieving family members and friends together in support of one another during a difficult time.
Traditional funeral services include:
Visitation: This is often called a viewing or a wake. Guests come to pay their respects to the deceased by viewing their casketed body and spending time with the grieving family. A visitation can occur at any time before the funeral service, whether an hour before or a day before.
Funeral Service: This event commonly takes place at the funeral home, a church, or the graveside. It can include music, such as the singing of hymns, and the reading of literary or religious passages, eulogy, or prayer.
Committal Service: This stage involves the vehicle procession to the cemetery, if the family plans to bury the deceased.
Funeral Reception: Many choose to host this post-service gathering (or repast) at a reception hall. This is considered a time to share memories, laughter, and support.
If you are interested in making funeral arrangements for a loved one, please contact us.
Cremation Services
At Walton’s, we care for your loved ones during the cremation process as if they were our own. We promise each family the following services:
Courteous, professional assistance. Our dedicated staff will take care of all details, including prompt filing of required permits and notifications. Completing these documents accurately and on time ensures their acceptance by local or state agencies, and also guarantees your loved one’s cremation will not be delayed.
Respectful care of the deceased and timely completion of cremation process. Your loved one will be attended to by certified crematory operators, each of whom has been trained to provide both compassionate care for the deceased, and conscientious attention to detail throughout the cremation process.
Safekeeping and prompt return of cremated remains. We know it’s important for the families we serve to know their loved one will be coming home as soon as possible. That’s why we promise to notify you as soon as their ashes become available, and to safeguard their urn until you are ready to receive them.
A memorial service to celebrate the life of the deceased. There are many advantages to taking some time to remember the life lived, share stories, and laugh over memories. Our team can help you plan a fitting memorial service with or without the cremation urn present, at our facility or in a place of your choosing.
We offer three cremation options that can be modified to meet your needs:
Traditional cremation services. These are much like a traditional funeral. The body of the deceased is set in a specially-selected cremation casket or a rental casket, and they are placed on display for viewing at the service. A visitation can take place before the funeral service and the cycle is completed with the cremation rather than a traditional burial. Once the cremation has occurred, the cremated remains are returned to your family. You can then decide to scatter, bury, or keep the cremated remains in an urn.
Memorial gathering after the cremation has taken place. This can occur at any time after the cremation process. The urn is usually on display at the service, which can take place in any setting preferred by the family.
Direct cremation. This involves completion of all required paperwork and the transportation of the deceased from the hospital, home, nursing facility, or coroner’s office to the crematory.
Memorial Services
Unlike a traditional funeral, a memorial service does not involve a casket display (although the urn with the cremated remains may be present). A memorial service can be held weeks or even months after the death.
A memorial service can be held in a church, funeral home, community hall, or a place of importance to the deceased and their family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. Memorial services can be further personalized as a celebration of life.
Our experience has shown us that many of today’s families want more than a traditional funeral. This can be done by bringing more of the personality and lifestyle of the deceased into the arrangements. By displaying photographs or staging the event around a favorite pastime, a memorial service can become more personal and meaningful.
If a personalized memorial service suits the needs of your family, we suggest you consider the following questions:
What did your loved one like to do?
What was he or she like as an individual?
What was their profession and how did that shape their life?
Was your loved one spiritual?
Was he or she proud of their cultural or ethnic heritage?
Celebration of Life Services
Today, many families want a service to celebrate the life of the person they lost. A celebration of life service is just that — you can design a celebration of life that is as unique as the life of your loved one, and we are here to help you do it.
We always enjoy working together with families in planning a celebration of life for their loved ones. While it can be challenging to plan an event that both pays tribute to and celebrates the life of a complex individual, it’s also one of the most rewarding things any of us can do for someone we’ve lost.
Celebrations of life are not burdened by social expectations. They can be anything you want them to be. However, while some families or individuals may simply want everyone to get together and have a party, it’s also important to keep in mind what your the emotional needs of your guests are. It may be best to combine the celebration with some of the more familiar goodbye rituals found in traditional services.
The celebrations we plan with families should be shaped as much by their own emotional and spiritual needs as their desire to celebrate the life lived. Think about who will be at the service, and what they’re likely to want or need. Then, find ways to incorporate the unique lifestyle and personality characteristics of your loved one, add live music or refreshments, and you’re well on your way to a remarkable celebration of life.
Celebrations of life are intended to lift everyone’s spirits by focusing on positive memories. If you’d like to learn more about celebrations of life, read our 9 Steps to Planning a Celebration of Life. Our experience in arranging and hosting celebrations of life will guide you in the process of planning your own.
Veteran Funeral Services
We believe the story of every veteran’s life deserves to be shared. We are deeply committed to providing families with exceptional veterans services and can assist you in securing military burial benefits. When it comes time for you to make arrangements for the veteran in your life, know that our staff is both qualified and committed to providing them with the military honors they deserve.
When arranging for veterans’ burial services, you can rely on us to complete all the necessary paperwork involved in obtaining the military death and burial benefits that are available. These can include:
Burial Flag
Headstone or Marker
Burial in a National or State Veterans Administration Cemetery
Presidential Memorial Certificate
Call us to learn how we can work together to pay tribute to your veteran.
