When A Death Occurs

When a death occurs a lot of emotions can come to the surface and confuse clear thought. Normal tasks can become overwhelming. To assist you the following is some of the information you will need to know when making arrangements.

Should death occur at a hospital, convalescent home or board and care, please contact us immediately at (760) 789-1678. We are available 24/7/365. The nursing staff will contact us for you or you may make the call yourself. Often times, in these facilities, they would like the number of a funeral home on record. Giving them our information prior can ease ones burden at the time of death.

Should death occur at a residence and the individual is under the care of hospice, contact your hospice worker. They will make the call for you or you can call us yourself.  It is always a good idea to have our information on record with hospice. If death occurs in the middle of the night transmitting information can be confusing.

In cases of sudden death or when someone is found dead you must contact 911. The police/sheriff will make contact with the Medical Examiner. Once the Medical Examiner has verbally released the individual the law enforcement officer can call us for you.

You will find it helpful to compile the following information prior to meeting with us. Please review some of the other pages on our website to learn more about services what we can do for you.

When a death occurs this is an example of some of the information that may be needed to prepare a death certificate.

• full legal name
  
• date of birth
  
• occupation
  
• social security number
  
• parent’s names which includes mother’s maiden name
  
• name of spouse (maiden name of wife)
  
• legal residential address
  
• years of education
  
• city and state of birth
  
• parent’s states of birth
  

Here are some other helpful bits of information that need brought in when making arrangements:

• birth certificate
  
• military discharge papers (form DD214)
  
• list of surviving relatives and places of residence (useful for obituary)
  
• insurance papers (if used) to pay for the funeral
  
• any prearrangement information
  
• a recent photograph that can be used for hairstyling, cosmetology and obituary postings on our website
  

Clothing

A full outfit of clothing can be utilized, including undergarments and outer clothes of your choice. Shoes can be brought in but are not required. For women a dress or pants outfit is appropriate. Please make sure clothing has long sleeves. Higher necklines are preferable. For men casual attire or a suit is appropriate. Again, for both, proper undergarments and socks/stockings are needed

Other personal items

Any jewelry, eyeglasses and perhaps religious items (rosaries, scapulars, etc) may be brought in at the time of arrangements or prior to any services/viewing. On the day of the funeral or viewing we will confirm with you which items should be left in the casket and which items removed and returned to you before burial or cremation.

Arrangement appointment time

Please contact our office for an appointment to make arrangements. We are generally open during normal business hours (9a-5p,M-F) but are sometimes out for funeral services. It is always a good idea to call first. We can also make an appointment for after hours or weekends if needed and we are also available to make in-home arrangements.

When we meet with you we will provide you with all this above information and more. We will guide you through the entire arrangement process and assist you in creating a memorable celebration of your loved one’s life.