RIP Dad, You're the Best!

My father passed away on July 28th. He was 84 years old and had been in declining health for quite awhile. He had lung cancer, (was a long-time smoker, but had quit 20+ years ago), went through radiation, (which gave him an additional 6+ months), but succumbed to a heart attack, as his cancer was putting pressure on his already weakened heart. He spent his final days at his summer home in Brookings, Oregon, and unexpectedly passed 3 days after he came back to his permanent home in Northern California.

My parents were proactive a few years back and planned for their deaths.  My father was a Korean War Veteran and requested a memorial service at the local funeral home first, followed by internment at a nearby Veterans Cemetery. His wishes included the 21 gun salute, bugle, and the flag folding ceremony with all the bells and whistles. 

My mother has since found out that all your best pre-planned arrangements may not go as smoothly as hoped. To start off with, both my parents signed up for a pre-paid cremation service. That was fine, but since my father passed at home, (after family members paid their final goodbyes and hospice was notified and had come and gone), we called the cremation organization to pick up his body.  Little did my parents realize, that the organization they signed up with was two hours south of them. They first had to get a team in place, then drive up and pick up his body. Next, another surprise was the length of time that it actually takes to get the cremation done. They first need a signed death certificate from the physician, which can take up to 5-7 days, then they seemed to need additional paperwork faxed over from my mother. They indicated the whole process could take up to 15 days! Lastly, the cremains were to be shipped back to my mother with the proper permits and such for burial.

My mother was hoping to have the local memorial service and internment all at the same time, but due to the uncertainty of the cremation timeline, she did the memorial first. Next, we had to plan a time for the internment. As the Veterans Cemetery has only certain days that they do services and also have to rely on retired Veterans to do the gun salute, we were at another standstill. We finally were able to get all the pieces in place, and the actual internment took place a month after his death. It was a lovely service and actually FREE to military members. My mother will also be interned next to my father, but as she was not a Veteran, there will be a cost of ~ $750.00 for her. 

This brings me to what a nice benefit the Veterans have for their loved ones passing. The Cemetery we went to was nicely kept and very professional. They did a nice service and all expectations were met. You can actually have the full service at the Chapel at the Veterans Cemetery, but as I previously mentioned, my father wanted a separate one at the local funeral home first. 

If you have a love one that served in the military and hasn't made their wishes known, it might be time to have the "talk" with them. It's a great benefit for their service to their country and one that families may not be aware of.

Ca Veterans Cemeteries