Cremation Services
If someone you love has recently passed away, Evergreen Cemetery, Funeral Home and Crematory offers our deepest condolences and sympathies.
We have served the Jacksonville community with our cremation services since 1880. On this page, you can learn all about cremation services. Below we share with you all the steps and processes involved once you choose cremation.
What is cremation? Cremation is the process that turns human remains into bone fragments. Cremation also pulverizes and processes the bone fragments into a powdery consistency which people commonly refer to as ashes.
Whether you’re planning for yourself or you just lost a loved one, we wanted to gather information on one page to help make your decision easier.
In recent years, more people have chosen cremation due to several reasons including: cremation becoming more acceptable; fewer religious restrictions; fewer family traditions; people are dying at older ages; and there’s a greater flexibility in memorial services.
Just like a burial, a cremation is a way to memorialize a loved one.
The Cremation Process
The cremation process and legal requirements for it vary state by state and city by city. At Evergreen, we will explain to you in person the legal requirements in Jacksonville, Fl.
There are different parts to the cremation process including transportation, storage, cremation itself, and the return of the remains. You have an opportunity to have a viewing prior to the cremation process, as well. You may also be able to witness the cremation.
Upon a person’s death, the body will be taken to the funeral home or straight to the crematory. Before the cremation occurs, the body will be stored and secured in cold storage.
For the cremation process, you must select a container or casket in which to cremate your loved one. Their body will be placed in the container and brought to the crematory.
Before the cremation, personal items (jewelry, watches, etc.) are removed from the container/casket and returned to you/the family. For safety reasons, many items are not allowed to be cremated with the body because not everything is combustible. These items could cause damage to the crematory or the operator. At Evergreen, we will let you know what can or cannot be cremated with the body in the container.
The cremation process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to more than two hours depending on the size of the body and how much heat has been stored in the cremator’s chamber. The cremation process occurs at 1600 degrees F. Once the cremation process is complete, the cremated remains are swept out of the cremator into a cooling tray and brought to a processor. The processor breaks down the bone fragments until they are 1/8” or smaller in size. The cremated remains are put into a plastic bag and placed into an urn or temporary container. Throughout this entire process, your loved one’s identification is checked numerous times. The cremated remains are placed with paperwork and stored until the family, comes to retrieve them.
Adult cremated remains weigh between four and six pounds.
At Evergreen, we assure you that we document every step of the cremation process, so that we are properly identifying the your loved one’s remains.
Cremated Remains Transporting
If you plan to transport cremated remains, you may need different documents (death certificate, certificate of cremation, etc.) and the help of a funeral director to make this process possible.
If shipping cremated remains by United States Postal Service (USPS), you must use Priority Mail Express service and Priority Express Mail International. USPS’ Label 139 indicating “Cremated Remains” is not required but it is encouraged to help USPS workers know this package should be handled with care.
Most airlines allow the transportation of cremated remains either as a carry-on, checked luggage or air cargo. Check with the airlines to learn their rules about transporting cremated remains; some airlines need notice if something needs to be placed in the air cargo. You must carry the death certificate, certificate of cremation and other documentation with you.
If transporting the cremated remains internationally, you will have to contact the Consulate(s) of the country you are taking the remains to or from. You will find the forms and authorizations required. Your funeral director will likely have to complete many of the forms. This process can take a few weeks.
Cremation Costs
When it comes to cremation services, you can pre-pay and arrange things ahead of time, so your loved ones do not have to worry about these things at the time of death.
We recommend that you arrange for a cremation service prior to your death; however, we know unexpected deaths occur. By planning, this will eliminate a lot of stress and pressure for your family – they will know exactly what you want.
Usually, cremation services have a fixed cost, but the price can change if the family decides to include a funeral or memorial service, buys a cemetery space, wants flowers, upgrades the urn, chooses to view the body before cremation or purchases other items.
At Evergreen, we will work with you and your budget to plan the proper cremation process and memorial services for your loved one or yourself.
Cremation Memorial Services
There’s more flexibility with cremation than there is with the burial of a body.
- You can choose to place the cremated remains in an urn (they come in a variety of styles and sizes). Usually, the final placement of the urn or the cremated remains determines the look/size of it. Our staff at Evergreen can help you decide what urn to choose depending on your needs, wants, and budget.
- If an urn isn’t chosen at the time of cremation, the cremated remains will be placed in a temporary container.
- You can permanently memorialize cremated remains in a community mausoleum, a private family mausoleum or in a marked grave at a cemetery.
- You can put the cremated remains in a columbarium, which is an above-ground structure inside or outside at a cemetery. Columbariums can be a room, wall, an entire building, in a private or public mausoleum, or chapel.
- You can place the urn in Evergreen’s beautiful cremation garden.
- You can scatter the cremated remains outside of a cemetery anywhere in the world you’d like that you feel is special for the deceased. But you should make sure the scattering is done in accordance to laws and regulations. You don’t want to be fined for scattering remains in an unauthorized site.
- You can arrange to have the cremated remains scattered for you in a unique location like a mountain or in the ocean.
- You can divide the remains and do with them what you wish in different ways to honor your loved one. A relatively new and innovative way to do this is to purchase tiny urns or keepsake jewelry into which a small portion of the cremated remains may be placed. This allows several different family members to keep a portion of their loved one nearer to them.
- You can choose to have a funeral, church service, or chapel service with the cremated remains present.
Choose Evergreen as Your Quality Cremation Service Provider
Choosing a place to cremate and memorialize your loved one can be overwhelming. You want to choose a place that you can trust and that is reputable. At Evergreen, we have been honoring lives since 1880. For over 130 years, families have entrusted us with the privilege of honoring the lives of their departed loved ones.
Our serene grounds offer a full array of memorial options and services. We are Jacksonville’s oldest and most prestigious operating cemetery. However, we are not just a cemetery, we are also a funeral home and crematory.
By combining a cemetery, funeral home, and crematory, Evergreen can offer families cost savings along with the convenience of making all their arrangements in one location. Most people who are memorialized at Evergreen pre-planned their funeral and burial arrangements prior to their deaths. The decision to pre-plan is a wise one for emotional and practical reasons.
Call us at (904) 353-3649 or email info@evergreenjax.com to talk more about our crematory services in Jacksonville, Florida.
