Funerals and Closure

Having funerals at funeral homes in Roanoke, VA is an important part of the grieving and healing process for family and friends of the loved one who has died. The immediate hours and days following a loved one’s death finds those who are left behind struggling to accept what has happened and to admit its irreversibility. 

Some people may specify that they don’t want a funeral after they die. They simply want to be cremated or buried without any kind of ceremony to mark their time on earth and to mark their passing. But denying bereaved family members and friends a funeral process also denies an opportunity for them to find closure. 

Funerals are a helping step for grieving family members and friends to find closure – a necessary part of living life moving forward without a loved one – in their loss. What does a funeral home offer that can assist in this closure process? 

One thing is viewings. These are typically two-hour windows of time before the actual funeral service where the casket is open and the deceased loved one lies in repose inside. There is something comforting about being able to see a loved one who has died before they are buried or cremated.   

This is also an opportunity for friends and neighbors to pay their final respects to the deceased and to offer condolences, comfort, and support to the bereaved family. Many times, during the course of a viewing, people will come through that the grieving family haven’t seen for a very long time, including friends and other family members. This offers a chance to reconnect and it can be very calming and comforting for the family. 

Another thing that funeral homes provide that help a bereaved family and other mourners to find closure is a funeral service or memorial service. If the deceased has already been cremated, then a memorial service will be held afterwards. If the deceased is being buried and a viewing has been completed, then a funeral service will be held before burial. 

It’s important to note that a viewing and funeral service can be held before a deceased loved one is cremated, and many families find this to be more helpful with closure than just having a memorial service sometime after the deceased loved one is cremated. Having all the events related to the funeral process close together in time makes it easier to accept the finality of the loved one’s death. 

Funeral services include elements such as readings, music, eulogies, and spiritual comfort that pay tribute to and remember the life that the deceased loved one lived. They also give people the opportunity to reflect not only on the deceased’s life, but also on their own lives and their own mortality.   

Traditional services are communal in the sense that everyone there is face-to-face with dying and death and it can help everyone make resolutions and changes for the better in their own lives while they still have time. 

Funeral homes also offer online tributes for a deceased love one. These allow all the people, far and wide, who knew the deceased to share their stories and express their sympathy for the grieving family. Most online tributes also include the ability to order flowers to be sent to the funeral home and which, after burial, will be offered to the bereaved family. 

For information on funerals and closure at funeral homes in Roanoke, VA, our compassionate and experienced staff at Conner-Bowman Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help. You can come by our funeral home at 62 Virginia Market Place Dr., Rocky Mount, VA, 24151 or you can contact us today at (540) 334-5151 or check our community events.