Monthly Archives: July 2019

Veterans are Entitled to Funeral Benefits

Having a military funeral at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI is something that many military veterans and their families want after they die. There are several funeral benefits that are available through the Department of Veterans Affairs for all military veterans, except those who received a dishonorable discharge.

These benefits, which are provided at no charge, include burial in a national cemetery, opening and closing of the grave, a gravestone or grave marker, a United States burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate, a grave liner, and perpetual care. Spouses and dependent children of military veterans are also entitled to these funeral benefits with interment in a national cemetery, even if they predecease the military veteran.

Military veterans and their families are not able to reserve a burial site in a national cemetery in advance of death. If the national cemetery does not have space, the funeral home director can work with a state military cemetery for burial. State military cemeteries typically offer the same burial services, at no cost, as national cemeteries.

If a military veteran wants to be buried in a private cemetery, the funeral benefits available include a United States burial flag, a Presidential Memorial Certificate, and a grave marker or gravestone. These are free of charge.

For military veterans who die while on active duty, all funeral costs are covered by the military. Burial will be in a national or state cemetery, and the veteran’s spouse and dependent children are eligible for burial there as well. Survivors also receive a one-time bereavement payment from the military for $100,000.

For veterans who served in the military until retirement, died because of a service-connected disability, were receiving a VA pension or compensation when they died, were entitled to a VA pension or compensation, but took full military disability or retirement pay instead, died during a VA hospitalization or while receiving care from the VA, some funeral costs may be reimbursed by the VA.

The family of the military veteran who died will need to apply for VA reimbursement. The VA considers these on a case-by-case basis.

For deaths that are connected to military service, the VA will pay up to $2000 toward funeral expenses. For deaths that are not related to military service, the VA will pay up to $762. If a military veteran dies while traveling at the VA’s expense (for exams, treatment, or care), the VA will pay the maximum allowance, depending on the status (service-connected death or non-service connected death) of the veteran.

Military veterans are also entitled to receive military honors. This is usually performed graveside by a military honor guard unit. The ceremonies included in military honors are the removing the American flag from the casket, folding it into a triangle, and presenting it to one of the veteran’s family members. Then “Taps” will be played. “Taps” was once played live by a bugler, but most of the time now, a recording of the song is played.

If the family of the veteran requests it, a 21-gun salute will also be performed before the other funeral honors are done. When the 21-gun salute is finished, one of the honor guard members will fold three of the shell casings into the American flag before presenting it to the family.

For more information about military funerals at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help. You can come by our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI, 48044 or you can contact us today at (586) 412-8999.

Mother’s Day without Mothers

Cremation services in Macomb, MI include grief support and resources, but nothing can prepare children, big or small, for their first Mother’s Day without their mothers. Waves of grief tend to come pouring back in the weeks leading up to this May holiday because there are constant reminders that other people still have their mothers and you don’t.

However, you can celebrate your mother after her death in ways that will not only honor her, but also pass on her legacy to others. In the process, you’ll find solace for your heart and soul and you will remember why you loved your mother so much and why you miss her so much.

Most mothers in previous generations had recipe boxes with recipe cards and old battered cookbooks with handwritten notes about what to add, what to leave out, and what to substitute, as well as what were favorites. These are priceless reminders of an era gone by, and you can share a piece of your mother with friends and family by sharing these gems with them.

If your mother had a recipe that she was known and celebrated for, chances are it was on one of those recipe cards. Take the recipe to a print store and have copies made on heavy-stock paper that are cut out to the same size as the original recipe and laminated.

On Mother’s Day, invite family and a few close friends to a meal where that recipe is included. Place the laminated recipe card next to each plate so that each person can take it home with them.

If there’s a page in a cookbook that your mother scribbled a lot of notes on, simply make copies of it and place each copy in a plastic cover to protect it, and include that beside the plate of each dinner guest.

There is something indescribably comforting about seeing your mother’s handwriting and remembering the vitality and strength she had and the love she gave.

Another way to celebrate your mother after her death is to find a way to do random acts of kindness for other people.

Maybe your mother had a good friend whose children aren’t able to be with her on Mother’s Day. Consider inviting her to brunch or to your house for dinner. Bring her flowers and a card when you pick her up, and do everything you are able to make the day special for her.

If you still have some of your mother’s clothes and they are in good condition or you have household items that work, but you don’t need, consider donating them to a battered women’s shelter.

Go to a local assisted living facility or nursing home and ask if you can just sit and spend some time with the ladies there. Not only will you be giving them the blessing of care and attention, but they will give in return with their stories of their lives before their lives came to this. You’ll discover gems of wisdom in the sagacity that inevitably comes with living a long life. You will get far more than you will give in terms of time.

For more information about grief resources as part of cremation services in Macomb, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI 48044, or you can call us today at (586) 412-8999.

Five Types of Funerals

You have a choice of ceremonies at funeral homes in Macomb, MI that you can use to pay tribute to and say goodbye to your loved one. You can use just one of them, or you can combine them.

The first type of funeral ceremony is a funeral service. Whether your loved one is being cremated or buried, you can choose to have a funeral service beforehand. Funeral services always have the body of your loved one present (you can opt to have an open or closed casket), and they are always more formal in nature.

Funeral services have a traditional format that includes readings, eulogies, a spiritual message, a prayer, and music.

Although some readings may be from the Bible – even non-religious people find comfort there in times of loss and grief – they may also be poems that your loved one cherished, prose that describes your loved one, or quotes that were your loved one’s favorites.

Eulogies are given by people who were very close to your loved one. You and your family may not be up to doing this because it’s too hard emotionally, but select one or two very close friends or extended family members who can capture the essence of your loved one, highlighting their character and their contributions to relationships, life, and the world.

The spiritual message and prayer are included to give you, your family, and other mourners hope for the future and encouragement for the present. A clergy member usually participates in this part of the funeral service, but, in reality, anyone can perform it.

Music is important in a funeral service. While there are many traditional songs and hymns that are associated with funeral services, you are free to choose whatever music you want. You may have a song that reminds you of your loved one, or your loved one may have had a favorite song that they would have wanted to be played. Whatever you choose, it should have a special meaning to you and your family.

Graveside services are another type of funeral ceremony. While these are often held in conjunction with a funeral service, they do not have to be. Graveside services are held at the site of burial. They are usually brief and include a portion that commits the body of your loved one to the ground. Since graveside services are often held during the day, this type of memorial tends to be more intimate with fewer people in attendance.

Memorial services are held after your loved one has been cremated or buried. They are typically less formal than funeral services, and are usually opened up for mourners to share stories and memories about your loved one. They may or may not have a spiritual context.

Viewings and visitations are ceremonies that let mourners pay their final respects to your loved one and offer you and your family their condolences, their comfort, their encouragement and their support. With a viewing, the body of your loved one will be present. With a visitation, the body of your loved one doesn’t have to be present.

The first type of funeral ceremony you can have is a funeral reception. This can be held after a funeral service, memorial service, or graveside service. It is an informal gathering where food and drinks are shared and people are able to mingle freely and remember the memory of your loved one.

For more information on types of funeral ceremonies at funeral homes in Macomb, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help. You can come by our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI, 48044 or you can contact us today at (586) 412-8999.

Famous People Who Were Cremated

Shelby Charter Township, MI cremations are on the rise, as they are around the country. Until the late 20th century, many people chose burial as their funeral plan. However, as cemeteries have more limited space and ecological awareness has grown, cremation has become a more attractive funeral plan option for some people.

There was, in the past, a stigma about cremation. Some of this was based on religious dogma and some it was based on societal class mythology (only indigent people or incarcerated people were cremated). However, many famous people have been cremated throughout history.

One famous person who was cremated was Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book among many other works. Kipling, who won Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in London, Engand after his death in 1936 and his cremated remains were buried in the Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey.

Albert Einstein, the scientific genius who discovered the Theory of Relativity and blew the door open on our understanding of physics, specifically requested that he be cremated after his death and his cremated remains scattered. When he died in New Jersey in 1955, he was cremated and his cremated remains were scattered in a river near his home.

However, Einstein’s brain skipped the cremation. Pathologist Dr. Thomas Harvey removed the acclaimed scientist’s brain a short time after his death to use it for research. As is typical with neurological research, Einstein’s brain was cut into several sections and preserved. It is now kept at the University Medical Center in Princeton, NJ.

The famous psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, desired to be cremated when he died. After his death in 1939, he was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium in London, England. His cremated remains were placed into a Grecian urn that Freud had received as a gift from Marie Bonaparte, the great-grandniece of Napoleon Bonaparte, which was then stored in the crematorium’s columbarium.

John F. Kennedy, Jr., son of former President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Onassis, died in a plane crash in 1999. His body was cremated at the Mayflower Cemetery crematorium in Massachusetts and his cremated remains were buried at sea off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, where the Kennedy family compound is located.

Another famous person who was cremated was actor Christopher Reeve. Known for his iconic role in the movie Superman, the accomplished actor suffered a tragic fall from a horse during the height of his career that left him a quadriplegic for the final nine years of his life. After his death at age 52 in 2004, Reeve was cremated following a private funeral service in New York. His family later privately scattered his cremation remains.

Musician and former Beatle George Harrison, who died of throat cancer in 2001, had specific instructions for his cremation and the scattering of his cremation remains. A disciple of Hare Krishna, Harrison dictated in his final wishes that his body should be cremated within nine hours of his death and his cremation remains scattered in the Ganges River in India. He was cremated in Los Angeles and his cremation remains were taken to India where they were scattered on what Indians consider to be the holiest of rivers.

For information about Shelby Charter Township, MI cremations, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI 48044, or you can call us today at (586) 412-8999.

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