Funeral home

A business that arranges funerals and provides services such as preparing the deceased, coordinating ceremonies, and assisting families with practical details after a death.

Funeral director: A professional who arranges funerals and guides families through decisions and required procedures. Funeral directors organize the services and family support offered by funeral homes.
Mortuary science: The study and professional practice of caring for the dead and arranging funeral services. It provides the technical and professional framework for many funeral-home services.
Direct cremation: Cremation performed without a preceding viewing or formal funeral ceremony arranged by the provider. It offers a simpler alternative to the full-service arrangements many funeral homes provide.
Undertaker: A person who takes charge of funeral arrangements and the preparation or handling of the deceased. The undertaker is a historical predecessor to the modern funeral director and funeral home.
Embalming: The preservation of a human body through chemical treatment, often for viewing or delayed burial. Some funeral homes prepare bodies for public viewing by embalming.
Funeral home refrigeration: The controlled cooling of human remains to slow decomposition before disposition or services. Refrigeration can preserve remains when embalming is not used or is delayed.
Home funeral: A funeral in which family or community members manage some care of the deceased and ceremony outside conventional funeral-home services. It shifts some preparation and coordination from a funeral home to family or community.
Funeral industry in the United States: The commercial system of funeral providers, cemeteries, crematories, and related services in the United States. Its development shows how funeral homes became established as specialized businesses.
Cremation: The reduction of a deceased person's body to bone fragments through high-temperature combustion. Funeral homes may arrange cremation directly or coordinate it with a crematory.
Casket: A rigid container designed to hold human remains, especially for viewing, burial, or transport. Funeral homes help families select and prepare caskets for services and burial.

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