Ballard-Durand Introduces Celebrant Service to the Funeral Process
Ballard-Durand Funeral Home knows that losing a loved one is always a difficult experience, but celebrant Marisol Fuentes can offer a unique and personalized send off for friends and family.
Fuentes has been a funeral director at Ballard-Durand for the past three years but this July she became certified as a celebrant.
“It’s one of the most enriching experiences I’ve ever had,” said Fuentes of her three-day training course in Memphis, Tennessee. “It kind of rejuvenated my whole outlook on being a funeral director and serving families.”
Celebrants offer alternative services for families who are not affiliated with any religious organization or who don’t want a traditional service. Fuentes stated that, over the past couple of years as the number of non-affiliated people increased, more people would opt out of having a funeral service and many would chose direct cremation, which, in Fuentes opinion, robs the family of closure.
As a celebrant, Fuentes sits down with the family to learn about the deceased loved one in order to tell their story and keep their memory alive even after they have departed.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re two months old, twenty or eighty; everyone’s life should be told and memorialized for the friends and family to share because once this person is gone, it’s up to the friends and the family to…keep going from day to day,” said Fuentes.
Far from a cookie cutter service, Fuentes strives to make the ceremony, which can last as long as an hour, something that will “wow” guests. She involves the family as much as possible, having kids light candles or asking guests to submit a card recalling their favorite memory of their loved one. In many instances, she will also bring elements of the departed into the ceremony in unique and creative ways.
For example, in her training, she learned of a funeral for a departed stamp collector in which each of the guests were given a book of stamps so that they would think of him the next time they mailed a letter. Fuentes also once took care of a family who were saying goodbye to a loved one who was a painter, and helped transform Ballard-Durand into a gallery of his work for the service. The ceremony doesn’t even need to be held in a funeral home, she explained. If the person had a favorite park or beach, the service can be held there either before or after a burial.
Fuentes hopes that once people learn of the services celebrants offer; they will again begin to see the value in having a funeral service to memorialize their loved ones. She noted that even people who want to have a traditional service, in a church or synagogue, could utilize the services of a celebrant to create a more memorable experience.
“It’s really personalizing everything. You visit a funeral home and everybody knows what to expect. We have to make people feel the value and I think incorporating a celebrant into every funeral service will do that,” she said.
She noted that grief is a long process that everybody has to go through, and celebrating the life of a loved one is the only way to help fill the empty hole they leave behind. Grief is something Fuentes knows all too well, having lost her own father at eighteen. She was not involved in the funeral process, and as a result, did not grieve properly until years later. When it came time for her to pick a career path, Fuentes couldn’t think of anything else she wanted to do, other than help families in their time of need and give them the experience she didn’t get to have.
“It takes a certain person to want to do this. It makes me thrive. I know that this is what I’m supposed to do; I’m supposed to serve families,” she said.
Celebrants are an up-and-coming addition to the world of funeral homes, but Fuentes believes that once people learn about what they can bring to the sendoff of a loved one, people will be eager to use the service. She’s excited to be able to put together her first service as a certified celebrant, and says that knowing she has helped families in their time of need is the best reward.
“When they come back to me, or if I follow up with a phone call and they’re thankful…it brings me to tears. This is an important time in their lives and if I can make it easier, then I’ve done my job,” said Fuentes.
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