When dealing with a loved-one's death, one of the biggest, and most frightening decisions that a family must make is the choice of a funeral home. In some cases, the loved one has made pre-arrangements or arranged for a prepaid funeral plan. In other cases, the arrangements may be left entirely up to the surviving family members. The purpose of this section is to assist you in not only selecting a funeral home, but preparing you for some of the information that will be required when meeting with a funeral director.

What funeral home should I choose?

To remain unbiased, the Office of the Coroner cannot endorse or recommend one funeral home over another, however, a list showing some of the physically closest funeral homes is shown below for your convenience. It is important to remember that you are not required to choose off of this list, and your family can use the services of any funeral home that is licensed to do business in the State of Illinois. 

It is also important to remember that almost all funeral homes can arrange for burials or cremations, even if they do not have their own crematorium. There are also low-cost options for direct cremation services, both locally and regionally, that are available to you. Many of these services allow all arrangements to be handled online if you choose.

If you would like to view a map of local funeral homes, click here. If you or your family are having difficulty finding a funeral home or service, please contact our office at (630) 553-4200 and we will do our best to guide you through this process.

What information/items will the funeral home need?

When preparing for your initial meeting with the funeral director, there is some basic information and items that you will need to provide (these may vary based on the arrangements that you choose):

• Address of the deceased's last residence.
• Date of marriage and location (City & State).
• Name of the deceased's spouse (and date of death if widowed).
• Occupation and place of employment.
• Social Security Number.
• Education (highest grade received).
• Birth date and location of birth (City & State/Country).
• Religion.
• Names of churches, clubs, and organizations of which the deceased was a member.
• Veteran status (including campaign/war names, branch(es) of service and date of discharge.
  • Copies of DD-214s may assist with this process.
• Father's name.
• Mother's maiden name.
• Names of survivors (to include spouse, parents, children, siblings, and grandchildren).
• Preferred visitation date, hour, and location.
• Preferred funeral date, hour, and location.
• Cemetery name and location (city, county, and state).
• Picture for any obituaries and the hairdresser (if an open viewing).
• Memorial instructions.
• Names of any pallbearers.
• Clothing for the deceased (including undergarments, socks, dentures, glasses and any jewelry).
• Number of certified copies of a death certificate are needed (these may be needed for family members, insurance policies, cars, houses, bank accounts, pension funds, etc.).

As always, if you have any questions regarding this process, you may contact our office at (630) 553-4200.