The Importance of Funerals

Funerals have been performed for thousands of years, but why?

A funeral is a means to express our beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about someone we loved. It helps everyone acknowledge the death of a person that meant something to us. It allows family and friends to say goodbye to this person. The funeral provides a community support system for those left behind. It offers continuity and hope for us and it provides a safe place to express our feelings of loss.

For Ryan Brooke, owner of Oakwood Memorial Park in Ottawa, many common concerns arise about the purpose of funerals.

“So many times, I have heard a person say, ‘I’m not having a funeral, what’s the sense?’ Or ‘No one is going to come to my funeral,’ or ‘I don’t care what my family does with me when I’m gone. Just scatter me.’ And the list goes on,” Brooke said.

It is important to understand that the funeral is not for you, but it is about you.

Your funeral acknowledges the reality that you died. It is a way for your loved ones to gather on your behalf and begin the healing process from losing you. The process isn’t about forgetting you but remembering you. Stories and fond memories are way of continuing your legacy. Even years later we tell stories of someone who was a part of our life.

Your funeral is a way for your legacy to begin to live on, and so is your burial. Whether you choose cremation or traditional burial, your burial place continues the process of healthy healing.

Oakwood Memorial Park provides the space for your family and friends to gather. It provides a place for them to remember, to heal, and to touch. It is a permanent place of record that you were here and that you had an impact on people’s lives.

Your headstone isn’t just a marker, it can be a memorial. You can design a memorial for your spouse, children, relatives, fellow veterans, coworkers, and others that you have impacted throughout your life to come visit, a memorial they can physically touch, bring flowers to, or even place a rock or coin on. You will never know the number of people you have influenced during your lifetime.

Oakwood has many options for many generations of families to come. We have space for traditional burials, cremated burials, indoors, outdoors, above ground or below ground. Make us a part of your estate planning.

Dr. Alan D Wolfelt said “Remembering the person I have loved allows me to slowly heal. Healing does not mean I will forget. Actually, it means I will remember.”

For more information or questions, please visit our website or call 815-433-0313.

Oakwood Memorial Park

2405 Champlain St

Ottawa, IL 61350