Bible Verse of the Month
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11
You’re Not Alone
Planning a funeral can quickly become overwhelming; however, please rest assured that we are here to help you every step of the way.
We will quickly and honestly answer all of your questions and offer positive reassurance as you embark on this emotional journey.
Sharing the Event
It’s April 15th, 2020 and we’re all well into the declared National Emergency and stay-at-home orders. The rules vary on the orders, but they all make the proper celebration of a life at a funeral exceedingly difficult – particularly in the area of who is able to attend services and events. We are always developing ways to help families participate in their loved one’s final events. Lately, we’ve been expanding our ability to broadcast events live to the entire country. We are also evolving ways of creating better videos, which can then be shared with those who could not attend. Talk to us about the arrangements you wish made, and allow us to help you find a way to include everyone who should be participating – the opportunity to participate. Due to bandwidth inadequacies, we cannot live broadcast from every location, and some of our locations are not yet equipped to create high quality videos. But we’re always moving forward, and improving equipment and capabilities – so talk to us, let us help you make your loved one’s final celebration of life something that is shared everywhere – and for all time.
Maintain Them
Social Distancing does not have to mean social isolation. Maintaining social contacts is an important part of our culture, and at no time is it a more important part than during loss or tragedy. Be sure to stay in touch with your friends and family, particularly if you’ve recently lost a loved one. Get creative about how to stay in touch: telephone calls, face-to-face, Skype, instant messaging – even sending cards or letters by regular post can mean a lot to the person receiving the attention – and by the person sending it. Maintaining one’s social structure and fabric is a critical element of our happiness and life fulfillment as individuals and as a culture. During these stay-at-home times, creating a simple list is a great way to ensure you maintain strong relationships. Maybe you’ve even got a better way.
What Will be Needed?
One of the most common questions we receive is: what information will we require in order to assist you with making the final arrangements? If you have visited with us, and pre-planned the final arrangements, we will likely already have everything required. If you have not made arrangements previously, here is a list of the information that we will need while the funeral arrangements are being made:
• Full name of deceased
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Social security number
• Father’s name
• Mother’s maiden name
• Last or usual occupation
• Education level
• Name of minister officiating at the funeral
• Cemetery information, if available
• Veteran information, if available
It’s a good idea to keep all of these things, or copies of them, in one place so they can be easily gotten to with as little stress as possible.
The Most Important Comments
We regularly solicit comments from the people who have entrusted us with their loved ones. Dozens of comments are received monthly at all of our funeral homes. We use these comments to improve and expand our services. We are proud to share just a few of the comments we receive from one funeral home each month. This month we feature comments submitted for the Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home in Helena, MT
Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home – Helena, MT
- They did an excellent job, it is such a hard time for families and they took care of everything, very easy to work with.
- We appreciated the attention to detail, and how caring the funeral home employees were. Thank you for your compassion during a time of grief!
- The staff is amazing. Mike and Jenny made things easy and comfortable.
- ASW went above and beyond arranging my Mother’s funeral services. Dealing with the Catholic Church can be very challenging and Erick was very helpful with that. His experience came in very handy. The immediate attention we received the day my Mom died was amazing. We met with Erick and got to say goodbye to my Mom in less than 8 hours. Considering she died at 3:00 a.m. this was so nice and comforting. The vigil was perfect and everything was set up so nice. The mass was very good and Erick was very helpful. Putting the flowers and picture boards in the luncheon hall was so nice. Thank you for a beautiful service for my Mother.
We have omitted the names of the family member or members who submitted the above comments out of respect for their privacy.
