Services

Many families find meaning and beauty in a traditional funeral service. With a traditional service combined with cremation, you can still choose to have a final viewing, visitation or wake, and a funeral service. However instead of in-ground burial, the funeral will be followed by cremation. Depending on your wishes, the cremated remains may be either returned to your family for storage in an urn, scattered, or interred in a columbarium. This option will include fees for the funeral services as well as the fees associated with the cremation itself.

The Memorial Service can be held in our chapel, a church, or any other venue the family chooses - even on your own beautiful property. The main difference between this and a funeral service is that the body is not present. Instead, families may opt to represent the deceased with a focal point photo, a memory table featuring the deceased favorite items, or even the urn, surrounded by beautiful flowers.

We work with our families to design a service that honors their loved one with stories, music, or spoken word. We also have contacts for life celebrants that lead services as an alternative to clergy. Celebrants are trained in creating experiences that help start the healing process, and create a more custom farewell in their storytelling abilities, capturing the essence of your loved one.

With direct cremation, there are no ceremonial services involved. The body is cremated shortly after passing, without embalming, viewing or visitation. Next to whole body donation, which includes cremation at no cost, this is the most affordable cremation option. Cremations are handled entirely by Penttila's staff at our Long Beach location, and we have a range of urns and keepsakes available.

Water Cremation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, is a water-based, sustainable method of final disposition. It is sometimes called liquid cremation. Water Cremation has no direct emissions of harmful greenhouse gases or mercury and requires no burning of fossil fuels.

Water Cremation is the gentle process of returning the body to ashes using water and a small amount of alkali-based solution to speed up the natural process the body goes through at the end of life. This process used one quarter of the energy of flame cremation, producing less carbon dioxide and eliminating the burning of mercury and fossil fuels.

Independently proven to have the lowest overall impact on the environment of all mainstream end of life options, water cremation gives people the confidence that as they depart this earth, they are choosing a natural, environmentally sustainable and gentle funeral option, whilst still enabling family, friends and loved ones to grieve with a traditional funeral ceremony.

We have partnered with First Call Plus of Kent, Washington to provide this state of the art eco-friendly options to the families of the Pacific Coast.

Post cremation, you may not want to keep an urn at home, and we can help you plan for a final resting place. 

An urn can be buried at a cemetery in an above ground columbarium or in the ground. This type of graveside can be a small intimate gathering of those closest to you in lieu of a fancier farewell.  If your family already owns cemetery property or you need help finding an urn niche or other location for placement, we can help. You can even opt for a biodegradable urn and a green burial!

Families can share words, or participate in a flower laying ceremony graveside. We have many ideas to make your graveside services personal and special.

A witness cremation offers family and friends the opportunity to have an ID viewing and simple ceremony before the cremation process. This option allows the family to say goodbye which can be very healing and therapeutic, especially in the case of sudden or traumatic death.

A witness cremation is an intimate affair with usually a small gathering of close family members held at our in house crematory. 

After the ID-viewing and simple ceremony, the family may choose to help the funeral director insert the casket into the chamber and start the machinery.

If you would like to decorate the cremation box (for flame), we can arrange to have one delivered to your home (cost varies depending on distance). This can be a very healing ritual, especially for young children who have a chance to participate and express their love in messages and art work. You may bring the decorated box to our facility on the day of the cremation, or we can arrange to have it transported.

Many people feel a strong connection to the sea. We offer send off of cremated remains at sea via charter boat which can accommodate up to 20 guests.

US federal law allows for the scattering of ashes at sea but certain conditions must be met, including: the use of decomposable flowers and wreaths; ensuring that ashes are scattered at least three nautical miles from shore; certain notifications and other requirements.

Upon arrival at the desired location, the captain will position the vessel boat into the wind and with enough forward speed to prevent the cremains from being blown back into the vessel. The ceremony can range from clergy reciting prayers to Family members reciting poetry to a few poignant comments and everything in between.

Family members have the option to scatter the cremains if they so choose, or set them a sail in a special biodegradable floating urn.

The cremains are placed in the water and allowed to descend into the ocean.

Similar to a casket, the in-ground burial of the urn allows for a final resting place. This can be at any cemetery, or your own property.

Placement in a Columbarium

 (aka, a “niche”)

Many families find comfort in having a final resting place that they can visit.

Glass Remembrance Keepsakes

Handmade blown glass memorials that contains the cremains or ashes of a loved one. We have access to many glass artisans to make keepsakes from jewelry to paperweights.

Eterneva-

Diamonds from Ashes

Create a glittering memorial as perfect as your loved one. Hold your loved ones close in an diamond, available in many cuts and colors.

Memorial Reefs

Memorial Reefs International provides families and their loved ones a unique final resting place that creates and perpetuates marine reef ecosystems, essential to facilitating fish biomass restoration and coral regeneration.

Hair is a very versatile reminder of a life passed.  It’s a versatile, easy way to keep your memory of your loved one close and with you at all times. Mourning Jewelry is now back in fashion, too.

Life Print memorial pieces are created by using a combination of traditional jewelry techniques, modern technology and your loved one’s fingerprint.