Memorial Gardens | Traditions

Memorial gardens provide a place of reflection regardless of the funeral tradition that is important to you. Mountain View Funeral Home welcomes all faiths and traditions when helping to lay your loved one to rest. Here are the origins of some traditions surrounding funerals.

Visitation: This part of the funeral tradition centers around an opportunity for mourners to view the body of the deceased, usually in a casket. This does not mean the body of the deceased is necessarily viewable. The casket might be closed. This is left up to the family members to decide. There is usually a book where attendees at the gathering sign in and write something to the deceased’s surviving family. Family members often chose to display a photo or photos of the deceased from happy times in their lives, along with favorite possessions or other items that reflect the life of the deceased.

Funeral: The memorial service is most often called the funeral. Various traditions place this ceremony at a church, a funeral home, or cemetery. Usually a clergy person conducts the ceremony thought it can also be done by a family member or friend. Memorial gardens can also be a site for this ceremony. The deceased is usually transported from the funeral site in a hearse, with mourners following in their vehicles to the burial site, where the burial service is held.

Burial service: This is conducted at the side of the grave or tomb or memorial gardens. If the decease served in the Armed forces, there can be military rites at the burial service. The casket is usually closed and the ceremony ends with the burial or internment of the body or ashes. Often, valuables such as jewelry are buried with the deceased. Mourners generally wear formal, black or dark colored clothing to all these services.

Memorial gardens at Mountain View Funeral Home include 12 burial gardens, 19 mausoleums and thousands of niches.