Rensselaer Adventures

This blog reports events and interesting tidbits from Rensselaer, Indiana and the surrounding area.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Steinke Funeral Home open house

On Wednesday Steinke Funeral Home had a ribbon cutting and open house to celebrate the renovations that have taken most of the past year. I missed the ribbon cutting because I had a prior commitment, but I was back in town in time to take a tour of the facility. The room that everyone sees is the room where the family greets visitors.
 A bit further down the hall was some comfortable seating. The TV monitor was showing pictures of the renovation. For funerals the monitors can show pictures from the life of the deceased.
If you go through the door in the picture above you get to a lounge area where during a funeral the family can gather away from those that are coming to pay their respects. It had snacks available for those coming to the open house, and I did not take a picture because there were too many people there. I did, however, get a picture of the women's restroom, which was completely new as was the men's restroom.
There are parts of Steinke's that well wishers do not see. The room below is a conference room where the family of the deceased meets with funeral home personnel to plan the funeral. There are lots of details that have to be worked out, but once the family makes its choices, the funeral home people carry them out.
 One decision is cremation or burial. I forgot to ask where cremations take place.
 If the family chooses burial, they have to decide what kind of casket and vault they want.
One room that only the florists see is a tiny room for flowers. The local florists have a code so they can deliver flowers anytime, day or night. They only can get into this small room that is next to the parking lot.
No funeral home is complete without a preparation room, where embalming and preparation of the body takes place.
Steinke Funeral Home has a Facebook page that has frequent posts. Over the past year they posted many pictures showing the stages of the renovation.

Update: Here is a picture of the ribbon cutting.

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