Aftercare - A service now offered by some funeral homes for assisting families through the grieving process.

Burial Space - A designated location within the cemetery for one individual grave.

Casket - An American expression for coffin, a box or case for the enclosure of a human body.

Casket Bearers - Individuals who are designated to carry the casket.

Cemetery Director - A trained individual who arranges the committal service in cooperation with the family and the funeral director.

Columbarium - A structured cemetery feature containing many niches for the permanent memorialization of urns containing cremated human remains.

Committal Service - The final ceremony before the casketed body is lowered into a grave or placed into a mausoleum crypt.

Cremains - Descriptive word for cremated human remains.

Cremorial - A bronze and granite cemetery feature which provides a place of burial for the cremated human remains.

Crypt - A dry, vented burial chamber for the placement of the casketed body.

Disinterment - The process whereby a burial vault containing a casketed body is removed from the grave.

Embalm - To treat a dead human body with chemicals for the purpose of sanitation, preservation and presentation at a funeral.

Eulogy - A speech or written remarks in memory of a person who has died. Usually included in the funeral ceremony.

Endowment Care - A process whereby funds are held in trust for the maintenance of a cemetery. Sometimes called perpetual care.

Entombment - The placing of a casketed body into a mausoleum or crypt.

Epitaph - A commemorative inscription on a memorial marker or monument.

Funeral Director - A licensed, professional individual who arranges and conducts a funeral or memorial, and burial services in keeping with the family's wishes.

Grief - All the thoughts and feelings that surround an individual following the death of a loved one.

In State - The status of a casketed body which is ready for viewing in the privacy of a funeral home. Also known as visitation which may take place in a funeral home or a private residence.

Interment - The process whereby a casketed body in placed into a burial vault in a grave.

Lawn Crypt - This form of dry burial is an alternative to ordinary ground burial. A companion or individual concrete crypt is placed into the ground prior to need.

Lot - A section of grave spaces in multiples of two to twenty.

Lowering Device - A mechanical system which lowers the casket into the burial vault.

Memorial Marker - Usually made from granite and bronze for their permanence, a plaque on which the name of the deceased and other information will appear.

Mausoleum - A stately and magnificent above ground tomb containing many crypts for permanent placement of casketed bodies.

Memorial Gardens - Designated areas within a cemetery where certain themes or designs create distinctive memorialization.

Mourning - The outward expression of sorrow manifested in dress, actions, and performance of routine activities.

Niche - The individual, above ground space dedicated for the permanent placement of an urn containing cremated human remains.

Obituary - A notice, usually in the newspaper, of an individual's death including a biographical sketch.

Officiant - Usually a minister, or other designated person, who conducts a funeral and committal service.

Pall - A cloth used to cover the casket. The expression "pallbearers" refers to those who carry the cloth and/or the casket.

Plot - A frequently used word to describe an individual burial space.

Prearrangements - The act of pre-planning and pre-funding the funeral and cemetery services in advance of need.

Processional - The assembly of cars following the funeral coach enroute to the cemetery following a funeral service.

Urn - A container which serves as a receptacle for cremated human remains. Urns can be made of bronze, ceramic, glass, stone, wood or other materials.

Vault - The outer burial container which houses the casket in a below ground burial space. Usually made of concrete, steel or copper.

Visitation - An informal gathering where family and friends support the family survivors in honor of the person who has died.

Wake - An expression used by certain religious and ethnic cultures where family members maintain watch over the loved one who has died.

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