has had the honor of serving Berks County families in Reading, Oley, Temple, Exeter, Mt Penn, as well as all surrounding communities. Our caring staff and professional funeral directors are here to assist with funeral arrangements, merchandise and help you understand all your options with funerals, cremations, burials and memorial services. We are also committed to offering a variety of veterans services for the men and women who have bravely sacrificed and have served our country. Our funeral homes in Reading and Oley, Pa are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to guide and support families through all aspects of funeral and cremation services. If you have any questions or need assistance, please Contact us. One of our funeral directors or support staff will be honored to assist you. Our Services
Funerals
When planning a service, you have many options for funerals available to you and we will do all that we can to provide a beautiful and respectful ceremony. No matter your choice, we can offer you a space to join with family and friends in grief, comfort and love. And above all, we will do our utmost to honor your loved one. We will be happy to go over all your options and answer any questions that you may have. FUNERAL SERVICES
A funeral service is a special time for family and friends to comfort one another, begin to find healing and celebrate a life. Whether you choose burial or cremation, you can hold a gathering to honor your loved one. We are happy to provide a more traditional ceremony or something completely unique. Many cultures and religions have special traditions and we will do our best to accommodate your requests. This is a moment for you and your family and we are honored to help you in any way that we can. NOT ALL FUNERALS ARE THE SAME
Although some families choose a memorial service, cremation, or celebration of life rather than burial services, there are still many families who prefer the structured ceremonies. Funeral services have been a popular way of honoring the life of the deceased for centuries. One of our main purposes for a funeral service here at Stitzel Family Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc. is giving your loved one a final tribute they deserve. Contrary to common belief, funeral services are not all the same. They can take on many different formats and styles. We can plan and execute funeral ceremonies that follow very traditional practices to those that take on less formal, more unique styles. We work with you to create the funeral service that best honors your loved one’s life, allows the best way for you to say goodbye, meets your family's specific wishes, and fits within your financial budget. We have years of experience in this industry, and we take pride in offering families quality and affordable funeral services. We hope to help as many families in need as we can as their Pennsylvania funeral service provider, and we promise to help each, and every family member heal as they embark on their journey with grief. On this page, we have provided a breakdown of the traditional funeral process included in the services we offer as well as a brief history and overview of what a funeral is. Before moving forward with planning, it is important to understand the answer to the question, "What is a funeral?". Below, we highlight the history of traditional funeral services as well as the steps in the funeral process. If you are interested in making funeral arrangements for a loved one, we invite you to contact us to begin. WHAT IS A FUNERAL? All we need to do is say the word "funeral" and within microseconds, you have an image in your mind of what a funeral looks like. This mental image comes from many sources: the geographical place, culture, and society in which we live; our faith; our life experience. Obviously then, a funeral service in West Reading would look very different from one held in California; there are even significant differences between the funerals held in ethnically and/or geographically diverse regions of North America. Yet, despite the differences, these funeral services have much in common. We invite you to read further to learn the simple answer to the question "what is a funeral?" Should you have questions about what you read here, we encourage you to contact us. One of our funeral professionals will be delighted to explore the commonalities behind the wide spectrum of funeral ceremonies seen around the world. CREMATION SERVICES
When planning a cremation service, you have many options available to you and we will do all that we can to provide a beautiful and respectful ceremony. We offer our own on-site crematory ensuring your loved one never leaves our care. CREMATION OPTIONS
After choosing cremation, it is important to browse through your cremation options. On this page, we explore the types of cremation available to you. If you are still unsure about cremation, please contact us. Cremation is a popular option for many Reading area families for a wide variety of reasons. You can have a traditional funeral before a cremation or a memorial service at any time with or without the urn present. You can keep the urn, scatter the cremated remains or have the urn buried in a grave or columbarium. When choosing a cremation, we’re here to offer you a meaningful ceremony. WHAT IS CREMATION? Part of making funeral and cremation arrangements on behalf of a loved one involves choosing between burial of the body, or cremation. Certainly, this is a big decision, based on any number of factors: religious or spiritual beliefs, finances, or ecological awareness are just some of the reasons we've heard for choosing cremation. Before you can make the choice, you need to know exactly what it is you're considering. You can learn the basics of cremation below, however, if the content here raises additional questions for you, please contact us. One of our cremation specialists will address any of your inquiries or concerns. HOW DOES CREMATION WORK? The Cremation Association of North America describes cremation as, "The mechanical and/or thermal or other dissolution process that reduces human remains to bone fragments". As we said earlier, people choose cremation over burial of casketed remains for any combination of reasons. Sometimes it's the simple fear of burial itself, which may stem directly from the Victorian phobia of being buried alive. WHAT IS REQUIRED TO ARRANGE FOR CREMATION? Once the cremation-over-burial decision has been made, all that's required is authorization. This is provided by the person who is the legally identified or appointed next-of-kin. Once all authorization documents are signed, and service charges are paid; the body can be transported from the place of death to the crematory and the cremation process can take place. However, there are some additional things you may wish to consider, such as:
•Is there a special set of clothes (such as a military uniform or favorite dress) your loved one would appreciate the thought of wearing? This will be a focus of the cremation arrangement conversation, and you will be advised by one of our funeral directors as to your best options regarding jewelry or other valuable personal items. We typically recommend that expensive jewelry and keepsake items be removed before cremation and kept in the family as heirlooms.
•Are there any keepsake items you'd like to include in their cremation casket? Perhaps there's a special memento, such as a treasured photograph or letter? We sometimes suggest family members write cards, notes or letters to their deceased loved one, and place them in the casket prior to the cremation.
•Would you or other family members like to be present for–or participate to some degree in–your loved one's cremation? Because we know how healing it can be to take part in an act of "letting go", we welcome the opportunity to bring interested family or friends into our crematory room. Please discuss your desire to participate with one of our funeral directors.
•What will you keep the cremated remains or ashes in after the cremation or the service? Many families are simply unaware that they can purchase a cremation urn to be placed in a special place such as the family home. We offer a large selection of merchandise that will help memorialize your loved one. Cremation urn vaults and urns that can be used for burial may also be viewed under the Outer Burial Container Tab. Ask one of our caring funeral directors to see the wide variety of urns. MEMORIAL SERVICES
When planning a service, you have many options available to you and we will do all that we can to provide a beautiful and respectful ceremony. MEMORIAL SERVICE OPTIONS
Just like a funeral service, a memorial service is a time to remember your loved one. This can be held shortly after death or weeks later, with or without your loved one physically present. What’s important is that it creates a time and a place for family and friends to gather together and support one another, share memories and pay their respects. We can hold a memorial service at our funeral home, the final resting place, your home or other venue. WHAT IS A MEMORIAL SERVICE
Unlike a traditional funeral , a memorial service is a gathering where a casket is not present (although the urn with the cremated remains may be on display). A memorial service can be held weeks or even months after the death. A memorial service can be held in a church, the funeral home or a community hall, or somewhere of importance to the deceased and family. There is usually music, selected readings, and a eulogy. Memorial services can be further personalized as a celebration-of-life
MEMORIAL SERVICE IDEAS
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? WHY A MEMORIAL SERVICE
Rather than opting to do things "the same old way", many families today want to celebrate the life of a loved one. Many funeral service professionals see this change as one of the many contributions to social change made by " Baby Boomers ". The National Funeral Directors Association notes, "As baby boomers age and find themselves having to plan funerals for loved ones and themselves, they are making funeral choices based on values that are different than previous generations. Baby boomers see funerals as a valuable part of the grieving process and are seeking ways to make them meaningful." If you too desire to make the funeral for a loved one more engaging and personally meaningful, a celebration-of-life may be the perfect concept to build on. HOW DOES A CELEBRATION OF LIFE DIFFER FROM A TRADITIONAL FUNERAL? How are celebrations of life and funerals different? As mentioned in the page Traditional Funeral Services, there are four basic components which make up the conventional approach to funerals:
A Visitation
The Funeral Service
A Committal Service
The Funeral Reception
A traditional funeral then is a series of events; it's a ritualized process where the deceased, and the attendees, pass from one social status to another; a process where the torn fabric of a family and community is repaired. According to the online article "Six Characteristics of Helpful Ceremonies", by William Hoy, Director of Grief Connect, this is done by including:
Symbols of shared significance intended to communicate beyond words
Ritual actions shared by a group of individuals
Gathered people providing comfort to one another
Connection to heritage through recognized readings
Increased physical contact between attendees provide comfort
Witnessing the transition of the body through burial or cremation
In knowing these characteristics, you can design a Celebration of Life as unique as the life of your loved. LOCAL CREMATORY IN READING, PA
WHY US OWNING OUR OWN LOCAL CREMATORY IS READING IS IMPORTANT? The Stitzel Family continues a tradition of personal care by investing back into the community. We are proud to offer a state-of-the-art crematory located at our funeral home in Reading, Pa. Even though all Reading funeral homes advertise cremation services, most people are surprised to learn that the cremation process itself is subcontracted to third parties. This will not happen when you call us in your time of need. What does this mean to you? Your family member never leaves our care. We personally handle the disposition of your loved one through the entire cremation process. This offers an assurance to families since we handle the entire process from start to finish, local in Berks County. We respect cultural and religious diversity and work closely with the family's clergy or cultural leader, to make sure that religious guidelines are strictly followed. We cremate only one individual a time. We never preform pet cremations. Your loved one will be held in our climate-controlled area until the time of service or final disposition
Our crematorium and cremation facilities:
Your comfort was our upmost concern when designing facilities
You will find our crematorium in Reading clean, well-maintained, dignified, and secure
You can inspect our facility if you wish as we have an open-door policy. For your family’s peace of mind, you may also witness the cremation process, if desired. Our crematory is operated by carefully trained and licensed staff. We strictly adhere to a Cremation Code of Ethics. Our state-of-the-art equipment is maintained at the highest possible standards and is environmentally safe. The Stitzel Family offers exceptional support through the entire cremation process. To ensure the highest level of service, we have developed an easy-to-follow 10-Step Identification, Security and Control Cremation Process. We believe this process will provide your entire family peace of mind. Please contact us with any questions, or to arrange a personal tour.
