Where families can go for answers.
Print and share this planning guide with family, friends and your funeral director as you finalize your plans.
About Us
Why we created MeaningfulFunerals.com
The Internet has emerged as a useful medium for education around important life decisions, but few online resources exist that provide families with comprehensive tools and information necessary for funeral planning.
MeaningfulFunerals.com was created through a collaboration between Batesville and Dr. Alan Wolfelt to provide the information and insights necessary to help families create meaningful funeral experiences that both honor the lives of their loved ones and start them on the path to healing from their losses. Central to accomplishing these goals is to understand the important role that a funeral home plays in this process and how to work with your chosen funeral professional to create a funeral that honors the wishes and attends to the needs of your family during this most difficult time.
This website is a starting place, designed to provide you with accurate and timely information to plan and carry out a funeral that is meaningful to you and your family, friends and relatives.
Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.
This website features the contributions of Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D., a respected author and educator on the topic of grief. He believes that meaningful funeral experiences help families and friends support one another, embrace their feelings, and embark on the journey to healing and transcendence.
Recipient of the Association of Death Education and Counseling’s Death Educator Award, Dr. Wolfelt presents workshops across the world to grieving families, funeral home staffs, hospice, clergy and other caregivers. He also teaches training courses for bereavement caregivers at the Center for Loss and Life Transition in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he serves as Director. Dr. Wolfelt is on the faculty of the University of Colorado Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine. He is also the author of many bestselling books, including Understanding Your Grief, The Mourner’s Book of Hope and Creating Meaningful Funeral Ceremonies.
The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Larry King Live Show and the NBC Today Show, among others, have relied on Dr. Wolfelt’s insightful commentary on grief.
Learn more: www.centerforloss.com
Batesville
Founded in 1906, Batesville has been dedicated for more than a hundred years to assisting funeral homes in creating meaningful funerals that help families honor the lives of those they love. Funeral directors and their client families rely on Batesville for burial and cremation products constructed to the highest quality standards. The company’s history of manufacturing excellence, product innovation, superior customer service and reliable delivery has helped it become, and remain, a leader in funeral products in North America.
Learn more: www.batesville.com
