Debra received her degree in Mortuary Science from American Academy McAllister Institute in New York then worked as a Licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer for many years before relocating to Florida in 2004. After working a few years as a Licensed Embalmer in Orlando, she took some time off to be the primary caregiver for her elderly father. Debra joined the Oviedo team in 2019. She is very happy to be back and proud to be serving our families as they are going through their most difficult times. In her free time she and her longtime partner love traveling and spending time with their family and friends - especially their fur baby, Kyson!
This funeral home was phenomenal. From the moment we arrived, they welcomed us and joined us in our pain. We were able to ease the pain smoothly with easy service planning. The day of them was VERY attentive. Stephen especially was a great gentleman always making sure if we needed anything. Constantly offering us water or napkins. I HIGHLY recommend this location to everyone. They touch everything with generous love and care and that is the best in such a difficult moment. They share the pain with you and help you along the way with both economic prices and create a comfort zone for you and your family. Thank you so much for your love and support.

Stephen was so caring and sensitive at our meeting with my children and myself planning the funeral of my husband, and our children's dad that we all felt like Stephen also felt the loss and we were all family in planning this difficult Farewell to the Man we Loved So Much. Stephen made the "Funeral Home" feel so loving it was like "home" we could discuss whatever we were thinking and Stephen understood our Broken Hearts. Thank you, Stephen
This funeral home was phenomenal. From the moment we arrived, they welcomed us and joined us in our pain. We were able to ease the pain smoothly with easy service planning. The day of them was VERY attentive. Stephen especially was a great gentleman always making sure if we needed anything. Constantly offering us water or napkins. I HIGHLY recommend this location to everyone. They touch everything with generous love and care and that is the best in such a difficult moment. They share the pain with you and help you along the way with both economic prices and create... Read More

^ Rabow, Jerome A. A Guide to Jewish Mourning and Condolence. Valley Beth Shalom. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 3 February 2006. ... cremation is un-questionably unacceptable to Conservative Judaism. The process of cremation would substitute an artificial and "instant" destruction for the natural process of decay and would have the disposition of the remains subject to manipulation by the survivors rather than submit to the universal processes of nature.


After the unexpected death of our daughter, Funeral Director Stephen ** guided us and assisted us with all of our needs. He coordinated with another funeral home to assist in the process due to the distance between our home and hers. He guarded and respected our privacy when we met in his office to discuss the details and make sensible decisions. He explained every detail. We didn't have to worry about a thing as he took care of everything. He continues to be available to assist us, answer questions and provide support.

           With her children  on their own, Molly had more time for herself and was able to focus on activities such as redecorating, listening to her favorite music on CDs and growing roses.  The gardening was a further extension of her green thumb. She had always had lots of house plants and many people commented that her home resembled a jungle inside. Molly also loved the natural environment and hated to see the desecration of the desert.

Who works in a morgue?


If you choose a direct cremation for your loved one, the funeral home or crematory will most likely return the remains to you in a very basic container. But you may choose to have the remains transferred into a permanent urn (the facility serving you will be happy to do this for you). If you are searching for the perfect urn, you may want to browse through our beautiful collection of funeral urns.
^ Robert Pasnau, in the introduction to his translation of Summa Theologiae, says that Aquinas is "...quite clear in rejecting the sort of substance dualism proposed by Plato [...] which goes so far as to identify human beings with their souls alone, as if the body were a kind of clothing that we put on," and that Aquinas believed that "we are a composite of soul and body, that a soul all by itself would not be a human being." See Aquinas, St. Thomas (2002). Summa Theologiae 1a, 75–89. trans. Pasnau. Hackett Publishing. p. xvii. ISBN 0-87220-613-0.

           But that did not defeat her.  In May of 2003, Molly, Meghan and Colter traveled to Cozumel together for a week. She was a nervous traveler, but her kids – who had more experience in this arena than she – were able to calm and reassure her. Once in Mexico, they had a glorious vacation together – enjoying each other even more as they realized how precious and tenuous life can be. The three of them snorkeled in the warm turquoise water, visited  the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza and every night watched the sunset together.

With the passing of my mother on January 31, all I really knew was she had pre-paid for her service with National Cremation Society. After making a few calls to various areas, I finally got an answer in their Tampa office who immediately told me that New Smyrna was in the Oviedo area. With one answer of the phone, NCS took over the entire situation with speed and professionalism. Stephen and his entire staff handled everything from pickup to shipment of the remains to Pennsylvania. My wife and I couldn't be more grateful and are now considering having NCS handle... Read More

How long should you stay at calling hours?


^ Robert Pasnau, in the introduction to his translation of Summa Theologiae, says that Aquinas is "...quite clear in rejecting the sort of substance dualism proposed by Plato [...] which goes so far as to identify human beings with their souls alone, as if the body were a kind of clothing that we put on," and that Aquinas believed that "we are a composite of soul and body, that a soul all by itself would not be a human being." See Aquinas, St. Thomas (2002). Summa Theologiae 1a, 75–89. trans. Pasnau. Hackett Publishing. p. xvii. ISBN 0-87220-613-0.
Ralph eventually grew tired of living in the suburbs and so in 1985, they moved to Goodrich, where he had purchased 5 acres of land. Linda says that Ralph was in his glory there. He had a huge vegetable garden, and as usual his goal to remodel one room turned into remodeling the entire house. Ralph loved to build, and was very handy. Then his shoulder was badly hurt on the job during a fight with prisoners; and he had to quite his job, so as not to risk hurting his shoulder again.
The Holocaust furnaces were supplied by a number of manufacturers, with the best known and most common being Topf and Sons as well as Kori Company of Berlin,[36] whose ovens were elongated to accommodate two bodies, slid inside from the back side. The ashes were taken out from the front side.[37] The furnaces were also unique, in that they were of a "stand alone" type, meaning that there was no visible duct work for the exhaust gases. These furnaces, based around a design commonly used for hospital incinerators, instead vented the gasses down through a series of ducts embedded in the floor, with the help of a draft fan located at the far end of the structure. Once outside, the gasses then rose through a free standing chimney, most notable for the fact that it was not directly attached to the structure of the building itself, nor had a visible duct leading into it.
In parts of Europe, cremation was forbidden by law, and even punishable by death if combined with Heathen rites.[11] Cremation was sometimes used by Catholic authorities as part of punishment for accused heretics, which included burning at the stake. For example, the body of John Wycliff was exhumed years after his death and burned to ashes, with the ashes thrown in a river,[12] explicitly as a posthumous punishment for his denial of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.[13]
Venessa, joined National Cremation & Burial Society in June of 2017. She is the proud mother of a 15 year old boy and is engaged to be married in 2020. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications as well as a Master’s in Business Administration. When she is not working she moonlights as an event manager, in addition to donating her time with various volunteer organizations.

Can I be buried without being embalmed?


    I will miss Luke losing his Spiderman at my house and needing to bring some toy home until we found it, or just bringing home a toy because he knew we would let him. We would get a kick out of watching him play play station with Jeff and Josh and knowing the controller was not hooked up but he thought he was playing anyway.I could go on and on about what we will miss about Luke our family has a lot of memories,a lot of laughs,and a lot of cries.
After my father's passing from an accidental fall, my sister and I were not only hurting profoundly but were very confused as to what was going to happen in the next few days. The day after his passing we reached out to Ms. Mallory Johnson with the Oviedo, FL branch of National Cremation & Burial Services. After answering a lot of our immediate questions, we scheduled an appointment for the next day. It takes a special person to put you at ease at a moment as difficult as your father's passing. Mallory did just that. My sister, my cousin and... Read More
^ Gassmann, Günther; Larson, Duane H.; Oldenburg, Mark W. (4 April 2001). Historical Dictionary of Lutheranism. Scarecrow Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780810866201. Retrieved 22 April 2014. Cremation was unheard of from the time Charlemagne outlawed it (784) until the 17th century. At that point, the practice was urged primarily by those opposed to the church, and for a long time cremation was forbidden by Roman Catholicism and practiced only reluctantly by Protestants. Recently, these strictures have eased, and more and more churches have established columbaria or memorial gardens within their precincts for the reception of the ashes by the faithful.
My name is Jenny R________ and, my husband,three boys, and I live across the street from the W______s.  As you can imagine in warmer weather there is always a lot going on in the front yard, and one of my favorite memories of Luke is him looking out his screened front door and yelling this famous phrase, “Can I come over?”  Luke wanted to be where the action was whether it was bubbles, gators, or cicadas.

^ Shimizu, Louise Picon; Maruyama, Meredith Enman; Tsurumaki, Nancy Smith (1998). Japan Health Handbook. Kodansha International. p. 335. ISBN 4-7700-2356-1. Not only is cremation of the body and internment [sic] of the ashes in an urn a long-standing Buddhist practice, it is also a highly practical idea today, given the scarcity of burial space in crowded modern Japan.


At present there are four crematoria in operation at BIRKENAU, two large ones, I and II, and two smaller ones, III and IV. Those of type I and II consist of 3 parts, i.e.,: (A) the furnace room; (B) the large halls; and (C) the gas chamber. A huge chimney rises from the furnace room around which are grouped nine furnaces, each having four openings. Each opening can take three normal corpses at once and after an hour and a half the bodies are completely burned. This corresponds to a daily capacity of about 2,000 bodies... Crematoria III and IV work on nearly the same principle, but their capacity is only half as large. Thus the total capacity of the four cremating and gassing plants at BIRKENAU amounts to about 6,000 daily.[35]

Cremations can be "delivery only", with no preceding chapel service at the crematorium (although a church service may have been held) or preceded by a service in one of the crematorium chapels. Delivery-only allows crematoria to schedule cremations to make best use of the cremators, perhaps by holding the body overnight in a refrigerator, allowing a lower fee to be charged. Delivery-only is sometimes called west chapel service in industry jargon.[citation needed]


On the other hand, some branches of Christianity oppose cremation, including some minority Protestant groups and Orthodox.[100] Most notably, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches forbid cremation, as a custom, but not dogmatically. Exceptions are made for circumstances where it may not be avoided (when civil authority demands it, or epidemics) or if it may be sought for good cause,[clarification needed] but when a cremation is willfully chosen for no good cause by the one who is deceased, he or she is not permitted a funeral in the church and may also be permanently excluded from liturgical prayers for the departed. In Orthodoxy, cremation is perceived by some a rejection of the dogma of the general resurrection.[101]
After the sudden passing of my wife, Caren, I contacted National Cremation. They met me at the hospital and set up an appointment with Mr. Stephen Barreto. He was very professional, knowledgeable, caring and while treating me with the utmost respect, he very patiently explained all my options. Within a very short period, all the arrangements were made and only five days later I received the urn in preparation for a Memorial Service at their location. Although we had a larger than expected turnout, Mr. Barreto went out of his way to accommodate everyone. His assistance and that of the... Read More
           Molly’s first job was at the Tucson Citizen as a proofreader in 1972.  She then moved into the legal field, starting as a secretary.  As she became more knowledgeable, she began doing paralegal work and over the next 30 years worked for several law firms in _______. She became such an expert in personal injury that co-workers went to her for advice, and the word was, “if you need to know something about litigation, ask Molly.” 

Is it a sin to be cremated?

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