When it comes to major life decisions, some of the hardest choices we make often revolve around choosing a career path, pursuing an education or the purchase of your first home.
Along the way, end-of-life arrangements tend to be a discussion we push aside, until it’s too late.
Here in Sequim, Licensed Funeral Director Erick Scheiderman and Community Outreach Coordinator Amanda Hough are working tirelessly to remove the stigma surrounding the sometimes emotionally taxing process of planning funeral arrangements for themselves or a loved one.
A common question they receive, for example, is the difference between well-known national cremation providers compared to local services provided by Sequim Valley Funeral Chapel and its sister funeral home, Harper Ridgeview Funeral Home, which has provided local, dignified and comparatively affordable funeral services for over 100 years.
While national cremation providers are common across the U.S., the North Olympic Peninsula is in a unique position geographically. Access to and from the peninsula to larger cities like Seattle, where these providers typically operate out of is often plagued by delays, which often makes it difficult for them to respond in a timely manner after a death has occurred.
It’s not uncommon for those providers to sometimes take several hours to pick up your loved one after their death,” Amanda says. Those delays can be extremely challenging for families already navigating a difficult situation.
By working with an experienced local funeral home, immediate support is always close at hand, when you need it, Amanda explains. From that initial contact to the arrangements that follow a death, to receiving your loved ones “ashes” in person, rather than through the mail, the relationship we strive to make with these families is one of trust, compassion and respect.
While the funeral directors at Sequim Valley Funeral Chapel and Harper Ridgeview Funeral Home encourage those in the local communities they serve to explore the best options for their personal needs, Scheiderman says the most important thing families need to consider when planning funeral arrangements is to connect with your local funeral home first..
“When contacting your local funeral home, you want to make sure they are going to take care of your loved one in a dignified manner, while ensuring the family is well taken care of as well. While working with families, I can honestly say we form a special bond,” Scheiderman says.
As a full-service funeral home, Sequim Valley Funeral Chapel and Harper Ridgeview Funeral Home provide families with their every need including, :
- Local, affordable cremation services
- Full-service traditional burials
- Human Composting
- Willed Body Donation Assistance
- Alkaline hydrolysis (water cremation)
- Military funeral honors
- Travel protection plans
- One-on-one access to professional and compassionate staff
For more information families are encouraged to call 360-683-5242 for immediate support.
