Helpful Information

Unexpected deaths are emotionally draining and difficult. Don’t hesitate to call us if you are unsure what to do. 541-367-2891 We answer 24 hours a day.

If your loved one is on hospice or in a hospital or nursing facility or care home, let the facility/hospice know to call Sweet Home Funeral Chapel when you are ready for transportation to take place.

If your loved one passes away at home, or not attended by hospice or nursing care, call the police, either city or county depending on where you live. They will come first and review the situation then contact the medical examiner. When they are ready for transport, they will call Sweet Home Funeral Chapel and we will take your loved one into our care.

We will call you to make an appointment to come and make arrangements. If you do not hear from us, please call, we may not have a correct number for you or may not know who is handling the arrangements.

Please make funeral arrangements with us before telling family and friends when services will be. We will make sure we are available and the facility or cemetery are available to alleviate having to call everyone back.

When we meet, we will gather information to complete the death certificate and notify social security, go over the pre-arrangement instructions if any, discuss the wishes of disposition – whether that is cremation or burial, and help plan and help arrange service details.

This process may include:

• Preparing and filing the official death certificate
• Scheduling the services and events (including the location, date, and time)
• Selecting a casket, urn, or other products you may need
• Drafting an obituary
• Arranging necessary transportation
• Ordering military honors for the service

We’d like to make this process as smooth and stress-free for you as we can, so remember to bring the following information about your loved one with you as well:

• Full legal name and home address
• Social security number
• Date of birth
• Place of birth
• Father’s name
• Mother’s maiden name
• Veteran’s discharge papers (DD-214), if applicable
• Information about the burial location if applicable
• Clergy name and phone number if applicable
• Names and relationships of survivors
• Insurance policy information if using to pay for funeral expenses

If you do not know some of this information when you come in, you can always call us with it when you find it. Please also bring a recent photograph and any clothing you’d like us to use when dressing them for the service.

We notify social security of the death so you do not have to call them. If you need more information:  online ssa.gov, go to the local office, or call them (expect a long hold time) 800-772-1213

Please call us and we will coordinate transportation of your loved one back home as soon as possible. If you plan on cremation, we can transport them here or work with a funeral home and help you through the process and paperwork to have the cremation done and the cremated remains returned home.

Definitely! In fact, we encourage you to do so. Choosing cremation only indicates how you’d like to care for your loved one after the service and doesn’t exclude you from celebrating and honoring their life in any way. Whether you’d like to have a visitation beforehand, arrange a funeral service before cremation, or wait and hold the service after the cremation, we’re happy to help you design a meaningful service to accompany the cremation.

It depends, once we have all the proper authorization, the actual cremation takes about 2 to 4 hours. The family can usually pick up the cremated remains 24 to 36 hours after the cremation.

Absolutely! Our staff has years of experience getting to know families and incorporating their loved one’s hobbies, activities, interests, and unique requests into meaningful and memorable services. Don’t hesitate to make a request because you think it might be too “out there”—we’re honored to work with you to create a service that truly reflects and celebrates your loved one’s individual life journey.

It is always your choice which funeral home to use. Information and insurance policies can be transferred to any funeral home of choice.

For some, it is a difficult choice. Please call us to set up an appointment to discuss the benefits, differences, and similarities between burial and cremation. We can give you information that you can use to make a more informed decision.

We take cash, checks, visa, mastercard, and billpay checks.

Many people will come to us to prearrange and prepay for their funeral or final wishes in order spend down their money to qualify for Medicaid or other services. We are happy to help them. We set up the policy so that it will not count as an asset against them.