Committed to families in the communities we have been serving since 1936.

Cremation Selections

Cremation Casket and Container Choices

The selection of a cremation casket is just as important as the selection of the ceremony and will complement the tribute designed for the one being remembered. Before cremation, during the ceremony, and at the time of cremation, the casket or container is the resting place that gives dignity to your loved one. It may also be where you will see your loved one for the last time. Cremation caskets are made of wood and available in a wide variety of styles that are suitable for services with a visitation, viewing or gathering held prior to the cremation. The warmth, beauty and personality wood brings to fine furniture is well suited for the construction of caskets. Depending on your selection, cremation caskets can be personalized to fit your needs with accessories like custom tribute panels or custom embroidered interiors. Cremation containers are made from both composite and solid wood components and are fully combustible. These are most appropriate when a private viewing has been scheduled.

Wood Selections for Cremation Caskets

Hardwood caskets include a variety of species: mahogany, cherry, maple, oak, pecan, select hardwood and pine. Families who choose these caskets appreciate the qualities of natural wood. The warmth, beauty and personality it brings to fine furniture is also well suited for the construction of caskets. Some wood caskets are manufactured from solid specie wood, and others are constructed with high-quality veneers.

Mahogany

Mahogany is used extensively for high-grade furniture and cabinetry. It has a well-earned reputation because of its attractive grain pattern and beautiful natural luster.

Cherry

Cherry is one of the most popular hardwoods. Because of its strength and stability, cherry is often used for burial caskets, paneling and gun stocks. Its rich, warm look and creamy, reddish color make it attractive.

Maple

Maple is valued for its strength, wear resistance and beauty, making it a popular choice for flooring, especially for heavily trafficked areas such as a ballroom. But it’s also a popular material used in making caskets. Maple is evenly textured with a natural luster. While the grain is usually straight, it can also be wavy or curly.

Pecan

Prized for the delicious pecan nut, pecan trees also produce a strong and heavy hardwood. Pecan is light in color and is often found in the construction of beautiful furniture and architectural paneling.

Oak

Oak is a popular furniture and flooring favorite. This durable wood is used for doors, paneling, home furnishings and caskets. Oak has a prominent grain pattern that can be either tight or coarse, depending on the species.

Select Hardwood

Hardwood is a cost effective, yet attractive, solid wood product made from select wood species including poplar and cottonwood.

Veneer

Veneering has been a standard in the fine furniture industry for more than 50 years. Veneered wood caskets incorporate quality craftsmanship with premium wood veneers and engineered wood composites that create a look and finish of warmth and beauty that many families are drawn to with solid wood caskets.

Personalize with Cremation Casket Features

Specially designed features are available with many caskets today, and serve as another visual way to create an impactful and emotional expression during the service. There are numerous different features and flexible ways to personalize a casket that reflect the personality and interests of your loved one. One such feature incorporates artistic designs that can pay tribute to an individual’s life of service, passions and interests. These designs can be attached to the corners of many different types of caskets. Another unique feature available on select caskets is a special drawer where you can display cherished mementos during the service and place private farewell messages that can then remain in the casket with your loved one at their final resting place.

Several unique panel designs for the lid of the casket are also available, and each one offers its own dignified approach to serve as a special place and focal point for families to recall a life story and highlight the personal facets that made their loved one special. There are select caskets with panels that allow you to display artistically crafted medallions that can serve as a visual eulogy, allowing you to highlight the most meaningful roles and relationships of your loved one’s life.

Some caskets include a pleated panel that enables you to display cherished photos and personal mementos near your loved one. Insertable panels are also available that include embroidered designs with tributes focused on relationships, service, passions and interests. In some cases, you can design or customize your own embroidered panel if standard offerings do not deliver that final personal touch. Some of the same embroidery designs can also be applied to other casket interiors, such as the casket overthrow or pillow.

Cremation Casket Features that Encourage Remembrance

Many of the designs and features used with the casket can also serve as personal memorial keepsakes, such as the medallions or corner designs. In order to allow healing to begin, it’s important to accept that the everyday relationship with the loved one has moved from physical reality to memory. Many people find it helpful to have tangible reminders of their loved one, including items and symbols that relate to the final celebration of life, included in the funeral service. Keepsakes of various types, such as medallions, can also be engraved with the loved one’s name and dates, or special designs that create even more meaningful and touching remembrances for current and future generations.

Ask your funeral director for more information on what is available to help personalize and encourage remembrance during the funeral of your loved one. They can guide you through the selection process and help you make informed choices.

The Living Memorial Program

Batesville’s Living Memorial® Program is a unique and special way to honor the memory of a loved one. When you select a Batesville® burial product or an Options® cremation product, arrangements are made for a tree seedling to be planted as a living tribute–at no additional cost to you.

Seedlings are planted in national forests in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, The Canadian Forestry Association, The Grand River Conservation Foundation, and other international organizations to re-establish woodlands destroyed by forest fires, blight and other natural disasters. You will receive a special letter that verifies a tree has been planted where the need is greatest.

Memorial Urns

Final Placement Choices

Urns are available in a wide variety of styles and materials. What’s right for you will depend on your choice of final placement as well as personal tastes.

Burial

Burial provides a permanent place for future visitation. Depending on the type of urn being buried, you may be required to use an urn vault to prevent the grave from settling and help with general gravesite maintenance and appearance. Urn vaults are available in a variety of materials including cultured granite, metal, concrete and composite materials or a combination of materials. Urn vaults are available with a variety of interiors, including smooth or textured finishes as well as fabric choices. Urn vault styles are available that can be personalized to help honor your loved one.

Niche

A niche is a recessed compartment typically found in a columbarium or mausoleum to hold an urn. The niche may be open-front, protected by glass (this option allows viewing of the urn), or closed-front, faced with bronze, marble or granite. Generally, the urn containing the cremated remains is placed inside the niche and the front is sealed. Many urn styles can be placed in a niche.

Ceremonial Scattering

Complete or ceremonial scattering is a symbolic release of your loved one back into the world. This can be done in a variety of ways. Biodegradable urns made of unbleached pressed cotton can facilitate underground or water scattering. Some urns are designed for ceremonial scattering and are therefore lightweight, easy to open and safe to hold at multiple angles.

Home Display

You may want to memorialize your loved one in your home after cremation. Many urn styles are available that provide a touching and discreet way to hold the memory of your loved one close. Urns are available in natural stone like marble, a variety of metals such as bronze and copper, and beautiful wood finishes like oak, cherry or mahogany. Cast acrylic and cast bronze statuary art urns are also available in a variety of styles. Products are also available for memorials in the garden or landscape, including wind chimes, birdbaths and sundials.