It is the customary way to recognize death and its finality.  Funerals are recognized rituals for the living to show respect for the deceased and to help surviving family and friends to begin the grief process.

Funeral directors are caregivers and administrators.  They make the arrangements for transportation of the body, complete all the necessary paperwork, and impliment the choices made by the family regarding the funeral and final disposition of the body.  Funeral directors are listeners, advisors, and supporters.  They have experience assisting the bereaved in coping with death.  Funeral directors are trained to answer questions about grief, recognize when a person is having difficulty coping, and recommend sources of professional help.  Funeral directors also link survivors with support groups an the funeral home or in the community.

In most states, family members may bury their own dead although regulations vary.  However, most people find it very trying to be solely responsible for arranging the details and legal matters surrounding a death.

Viewing is part of many cultural and ethnic traditions.  Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death and find closure.  Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity is voluntary.

Yes, a person who dies of an AIDS-related illness is entitled to the same service options afforded to anyone

else. . If public viewing is consistent with local or personal customs, that option is encouraged.  Touching the deceased's face or hands is perfectly safe.  Because the grief experienced by survivors may include a variety of feelings, survivors may need even more support than survivors of non-AIDS-related deaths.

While it is true some metropolitan areas have limited available cemetary space, in most areas of the country there is enough space set aside for the next 50 years without creating new cemeteries.  In addition, land available for new cemeteries is more than adequate, especially with the increase in entombment and multi-level grave burial.

Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body, retards the decomposition process, and enhances the appearance of a body disfigured by traumatic death or illness.  Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, thus allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.

No.  Most states, however, require embalming when death was caused by a reportable contagious disease or when remains are to be transported from one state to another by common carrier or if final dispostion is not to be made with an prescribed number of hours.

No, cremation is an alternative to earth burial or entombment for the body's final disposition and often follows a traditional funeral service.

According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), cremation was the disposition of choice in about 27% of all deaths in the United States in the year 2001.  It is projected that the percentage will rise to about 39% in 2010 and 47% in 2025.  These figures represent the United States as a whole; individual states may have lower or higher rates of cremation.

Yes. Quite often some sort of viewing precedes the actual cremation. Niswonger - Reynolds Funeral Home can assist you with the necessary information for a funeral with a cremation following or a memorial service.

When compared to other major life cycle events, like births and weddings, funerals are not expensive.  A wedding costs at least three times as much; but because it is a happy event, wedding costs are rarely criticized.  A funeral home is a 24 hour, labor intensive business, with extensive facilities (viewing rooms, chapels, sample rooms, administrative offices, limousines, hearses, etc.).  These expenses must be factored into the cost of a funeral.  Morover, the cost of a funeral includes not only the merchandise (such as caskets), but the services of a funeral director in making arrangements; filing appropriate forms, dealing with doctors, ministers, florists, newspapers and others; and seeing to all the necessary details.  Contrary to popular belief, funeral homes are largely family-owned businesses with a modest profit margin.

The FTC and state licensing boards regulate funeral service.  In most cases, the consumer should discuss problems with the funeral director first.  If talking with the funeral director cannot solve the dispute, the consumer may wish to contact the Funeral Service Consumer Assistance Program.  FSCAP provides information, mediates disputes, provides arbitration, and maintains a consumer guarantee fund for reimbursement of services rendered.  To contact FSCAP, call 708-827-6337 or 800-662-7666.

Funeral directors are caring individuals who help people deal with a very stressful time.  They serve the same families 80% of the time, and many have spent most of their lives in the same community.  If they took advantage of bereaved families, they could not stay in business.  The fact that the average funeral home has been in business over 59 years shows that most funeral directors respect the wishes of the bereaved families.

Funeral directors look upon their profession as a service, but it is also a business.  Like any business, funeral homes must make a profit to exist.  As long as the profit is reasonable and the services rendered are necessary, complete, and satisfactory to the family, profit is legitimate.

No. Talking about the mark up on caskets is really not the point.  Most items--clothing, furniture, jewelry--are marked up as much or more than caskets.  The real question is whether the funeral director is making an excessive profit, and that answer is "No".  Profits run around 12.5% before taxes -- not excessive by any standard.

Other than the family, there are veteran, union, and other organizational benefits to pay for funerals, including, in certain instances, a lump sum death payment from Social Security.  In most states, some form of public aid allowances is available from the state, county, or city or a combination.  Most funeral directors are aware of the various benefits and know how to obtain them for the indigent.  However, funeral directors often absorb costs above and beyond what is provided by agencies to insure the deceased a respectable burial.

Our Funeral Directors at Niswonger Reynolds are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Will someone come right away?  If you require immediate assistance, we will send staff to you right away.  Our funeral directors encourage family members to spend a short time with the deceased to say good-bye.  They will come when your time is right.  For more information, please see "What To Do When Death Occurs?".

Yes, our staff of funeral directors can assist you with out-of-state arrangements, either to transfer the remains to another state or from another state.  If a death were to occur outside the Central Oregon area, we can contact any number of agencies and remote funeral homes to assist in taking care of the necessary procedures at the location of death.

At Niswonger Reynolds we pride ourselves on service.  To assist those who have served our country, we offer aid in filling out forms to claim veteran benefits available to you.  This includes your entitlement to a US flag at no cost.  Also, burial at a national cemetery is optional, the closest being the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.  A memorial marker, which is provided to you at no charge for those families who wish to be buried in a local cemetery.  Also, if you are receiving benefits such as disability from the V.A. office, you may be entitled to burial benefits as well.