Celebration of Life Services
Anthony Funeral Homes now offer a personalized, memorable funeral service.
What is a Celebration of Life service?
Traditional funeral services are often considered quiet events where people gather to reflect and mourn a loss. While these services are still held in high regard and serve a wholesome purpose, celebrations of life are gaining popularity.
Our goal is to memorialize a life well lived in a unique and meaningful way, so that your loved one is honored, cherished, but most importantly, remembered exactly as they were. We like to focus on the best memories and accomplishments of your loved one, because odds are, those are the things worth celebrating. During these services, we often see laughter and tears, joy and nostalgia, but most of all, we see the beginnings of closure.
How can we arrange a Celebration of Life?
You and your family members will have the chance to sit down with our certified funeral celebrant, Katie Anthony Clapp, who will listen and take notes while you reminisce about your loved one. She might ask you some questions to clarify things, but otherwise she’s there to hear the story of your loved one’s life. View it as a simple conversation at the kitchen table, talking about how Dad used to wear those silly white socks with a black suit, or how Aunt Jenny always made sure you left the house with a little bag of M&M’s for the ride home.
Most importantly, Katie does all the work for you. Consider her your professional planner rather than your funeral director in this case.
Who would give the service?
Katie Anthony Clapp, one of our licensed funeral directors, is certified and trained to be a Funeral Celebrant. She is skilled at public speaking, arranging fine details, and truly meeting your family’s needs. Katie spends plenty of time getting to know each family, so the services she arranges are special and personal to each family.
Where should I have the service?
This type of service is most often held in one of our funeral homes. Our Akron location is convenient for receptions, as we also have a private reception center where your family and friends can enjoy a catered meal, hosted by our staff.
Other celebrations of life can take place outdoors, perhaps in a MetroPark with proper arrangements, other reception halls, or even your own home. Whatever you choose, we’ll make the arrangements.
The service does not need to be held in a religious place unless you wish.
What do I need to do?
You’ll talk with our funeral celebrant, Katie Anthony Clapp, about what you’d like to be said at the service. If you have pictures you’d like to use for a video, you’ll want to collect those as well. Likewise with music, if you have something you’d like us to play, just let us know. We’ll do all the work so you can focus on time spent with friends and family.
What are some examples of services?
We believe that everyone has a story.
Perhaps John was a lifetime bowler who spent his free time playing in a 70’s rock cover band. We could play some of his band’s music before, after, or during the service, or show some video recordings on the TV if they were available. We could display his best bowling ball and shoes in a tasteful way, or share stories from the bowling alley.
Maybe Aunt Anna was an artist. We could display her artwork around the chapel, make small prints of her work as take-home parcels, and talk about how art had impacted her life.
Or maybe Mr. Smith lived a quiet life, but was a phenomenal father. You would probably have plenty of stories to share about how he raised you to be the person you are today.
All lives are unique in some way, and our goal is to provide a service to you that is meaningful, memorable, and healing.
Responses from Families:
“Katie took the time to sit with our family and learn about our father through our reminiscences; that process was therapeutic in itself. Katie captured his essence and made the memorial service a comforting, healing, and joyous celebration of him—the service was as unique as our father.”
–The Ray Family
“The service Katie created for our dad captured him so well, it was almost as though she had known him her whole life. It was exactly the funeral Dad would have wanted. We laughed, we cried, and it was a perfect tribute to our father. It was exactly what a funeral should be.”
–The Graham Family
