Burial and Funeral Planning

Planning a funeral, memorial and burial service is a complex and emotional process. Pre-arranging your funeral and burial is one of the most loving and thoughtful gifts you can give to your family. The purchase of a family lot honors those who came before and provides a legacy for future generations.

Why plan ahead?

Planning for your own memorial service, burial and monument can provide peace of mind, knowing your loved ones will not face this burden during their time of loss. Pre-planning also insures that your interment and memorial wishes will be carried out.

If you will be tasked with making final arrangements for a family member, preparing for their passing in advance frees you to focus on grieving and remembrance when death occurs, and ensures your loved one is honored as he or she wishes.

Questions such as, “Do I want to be buried in a casket or cremated? Do I want a green burial? How do I want my grave to be marked?” are all important and should be given serious consideration.

Making choices and planning ahead ensures that your wishes will be followed and brings comfort and peace of mind to yourself and those who will survive you. We often hear how relieved family members are when these important decisions have been made in advance. You can feel unburdened knowing that you have taken care of a future need and not left any unfinished and difficult business for your loved ones to deal with after your death.

Selecting Interment Space

The selection of interment space is an important decision. Frequently, couples come to Bellefontaine to seek grave space for themselves and then decide to purchase additional space to accommodate children and grandchildren. After being shown available site options by our staff, we suggest you tour the cemetery with your loved ones so that you choose the space that feels right to you. We understand that this can take time and, perhaps, several visits.

View the interactive map of our grounds to familiarize yourself with Bellefontaine Cemetery. We invite you to see for yourself the majesty and dignity of our 314 acres, which are beautiful in any season.

Traditional burial or cremation?

A wide variety of family and faith traditions can influence the decision to choose between a traditional burial and cremation. For information about religious funerary practices, we suggest you seek the advice of clergy. You may be surprised to learn that, today, cremation is acceptable in nearly all religions.

As in a traditional burial, cremated remains may be interred at a traditional gravesite anywhere across our grounds, and require less space than a casket. They may also be placed in a crypt or niche. Should you choose to scatter the cremated remains of a loved one at a site of personal significance, you may then decide to memorialize him or her at Bellefontaine in order to provide a tranquil and accessible place for family and friends to go for reflection and remembrance, and to ensure that their name is recorded forever.

The choice of cremation does not eliminate the option of a public viewing of the body prior to cremation, nor does it otherwise limit your funeral or memorial service options.

What is a green burial?

Simply put, a green burial will return human remains to the earth, as directly and modestly as possible. There are many types of green burials from an interment of a shrouded or minimally-coffined body to the scattering of ashes. Most green burials avoid embalming (a process which is not required by law), metal caskets and burial vaults that have become the standard features of a modern funeral. Instead, green burials favor interring the deceased in either cloth shrouds or simple coffins made from cardboard or renewable softwoods such as pine. Bodies are then laid into vault-free graves, often in woodland settings. Headstones, if used at all, are typically fashioned from native fieldstone and set flush to the ground or are part of shared memorials that would include the names of the deceased.

For more information about the options of casket burial, green burial or cremation, contact our staff or see Important Questions to Ask and the Cost Calculator.

Bellefontaine Cemetery’s Personal Service Commitment

Bellefontaine Cemetery was founded in 1849 with the vision of burying and commemorating the dead in a landscape of exceptional beauty and tranquility that would provide comfort and inspiration to the bereaved. Now, 162 years later, Bellefontaine remains dedicated to that mission.

Meticulously maintained, Bellefontaine offers a long history of extraordinary stewardship of its natural and cultural resources and financial assets. It is a place to mourn those we have loved, a place to find inspiration and a place to honor life. We are committed to becoming your family cemetery, now and forever.

We know you have many options for funeral planning and memorial services in the St. Louis area. Learn more about Bellefontaine Cemetery’s unparalleled personal service and commitment to perpetual care by contacting one of our Sales Staff at 314-381-0750.