What Is Cremation?

There are several ways in which families may choose to handle the final disposition of the body after death. One of the most common methods is cremation.

Cremation continues to rise in popularity due to many factors such as cost, environmental concerns, and the desire for more personalization of funeral services.

What Is Cremation?

By definition, cremation is an alternative to a standard burial in a casket, where the remains of the deceased are incinerated in a special furnace. This furnace – called a cremation chamber, or sometimes retort – reduces the body to basic forms such as coarse ash fragments and minerals. Those forms are usually then placed in a processor which further reduces them to fine ashes.

Contrary to what some may think, the body itself is never actually burned with flame. Rather, the heat of the furnace, which reaches nearly 2000 degrees, reduces the body to bone fragments. No flames ever touch the body directly.

Why You Might Choose Cremation

There are many reasons why families may choose cremation over standard burials. Perhaps the biggest benefit is that cremation is generally more cost-effective than burial, because there is no embalming or preparing of the body for viewing and does not require an actual grave. Additionally, cremation urns are typically less expensive than caskets.

Some further reasons people choose cremation are due to the simplicity of the process and the opportunity for more personalized traditions. Cremation eliminates the need for detailed and time-consuming ground burial ceremonies in favor of other options. This allows the family the unique flexibility to hold onto the ashes for as long as needed, or to create a special burial, or even scatter the ashes in certain places.

For more information and questions on services, please visit our website, or call us at 815-288-2241.

Jones Funeral Home

204 S Ottawa Ave

Dixon, IL 61021