By Karen Haave
Skyline Memorial Park has been a part of Monee for so many years, just about everyone knows it’s there.
What they might not know is that it has joined the Dignity Memorial family of funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries. Earlier this month, it became Skyline Funeral Home, Memorial Park and Crematory, with expanded services for all cultures and faiths.
While, for some it’s not a subject that is easy to talk about, a funeral home offering attention-to-detail last wishes can mean welcome peace of mind.
Founded in 1959, the facility is at 24800 S. Governors Highway.
“Skyline Funeral Home hosts families and their guests for all types of services, from intimate visitations to celebratory receptions,” said Michelle L. Hanrahan, funeral director/funeral home manager.
“With a welcoming atmosphere and associates who treat every family like their own, we are committed to compassion and the highest level of excellence in everything we do. In addition to assisting with an immediate need, Skyline Funeral Home and Skyline Memorial Park specialize in working with families to make final arrangements in advance.
“When you plan ahead, you relieve your family from financial and emotional burdens, while ensuring your wishes are fulfilled. We offer in-person and virtual consultations, as well as a free personal planning guide.
“Skyline Memorial Park Cemetery is a beautiful final resting place,” she continued. “Skyline Funeral Home was opened on the property to provide meaningful funeral and cremation services.
“Together, the cemetery and funeral home give families the convenience of planning funerals, cremations, and burials all in one place. With experienced, compassionate teams and attention to detail that is second to none, Skyline Memorial Park Cemetery and Skyline Funeral Home work together to create ceremonies that honor the lives of special loved ones.”
Unlike traditional funeral homes, Skyline is “Light, bright, and relaxed,” Hanrahan noted. “Our event center has an inviting lobby with a fireplace, a kitchen, and a large patio. The nondenominational chapel has comfortable seating and audio/visual equipment for personalized slideshows and music selections.
“A relaxed space in which to celebrate the life of a loved one, the center also is available for visitations and is never booked by more than one family at a time.
“Whether you choose burial or cremation, Skyline Memorial Park Cemetery offers many beautiful and lasting remembrance options in a natural setting,” she added. “The picturesque cemetery has a range of options for those of all cultures and faiths, including: Casket burial (single and companion plots), flat bronze-on-granite markers, upright monuments, garden mausoleum crypts, urn burial (single and companion plots), granite-front cremation niches, cremation boulders, cremation benches, living tree memorials, family estates, an on-site crematory, and 50 acres of cemetery grounds.”
What sets the facility apart from other cemeteries, she said, is “The Skyline Funeral Home, Memorial Park and Crematory difference: A 100 percent service guarantee that offers services other funeral homes don’t.
“At Skyline Funeral Home, Memorial Park and Crematory, we strive to get every detail right the first time, every time. That’s why we offer every family we serve a 100 percent service guarantee. Should any detail of our service not meet the expectations as promised in our agreement, we’ll do everything we can to make it right, up to refunding that portion of the service.
“Our Compassion Helpline offers families unlimited complimentary phone access to professional grief counselors for 13 months after services are provided by any Dignity Memorial provider throughout North America. In addition, anyone who attends a visitation, chapel, or celebration of life service will have three months access to the Compassion Helpline and the same licensed grief counselors.”
Skyline also provides a free online obituary.
“Every Dignity Memorial service comes with a free online obituary,” Hanrahan said. “Here, family members and loved ones can share photos and fond memories with no restricted access or cut-off dates.”
In addition, she said there is Bereavement Travel Assistance.
“We’re here to help you get where you need to be. Our global travel partnerships allow us to assist you and your family with time-sensitive travel arrangements. We’ll help find you the best available options so you can be with your loved ones when and where they need you.”
Skyline also provides Relocation Protection.
“When you have a prepaid plan with Skyline Funeral Home, Memorial Park and Crematory or any other Dignity Memorial provider and wish to transfer the plan to another location more than 75 miles away, every detail of your plan moves with you,” Hanrahan explained.
“All of our prepaid plans are transferable and will be honored by any of the qualifying 1,900 Dignity Memorial providers in North America. That’s a promise you won’t find anywhere else.
Another promise not found anywhere else is the funeral home’s Family First Cost Coverage program.
“We hope this never happens, but when you have a cemetery plan or funeral package with Dignity Memorial and suffer the loss of an unmarried child or grandchild who is under the age of 21, we will take care of funeral services, cremation services, and cemetery interment rights up to the same level as your own plan. This protection is at no cost to you, through any provider in the Dignity Memorial family you choose, nationwide.”
Skyline Memorial Park has nine sections in its cemetery for in-ground burial, one mausoleum, and four columbarium, and all have availability.
“We plan to open additional sections and mausoleums in the future,” Hanrahan added.
Burial site prices range from $1,895-$3,005. Columbarium prices range from $1,295-$6,995. Mausoleum prices range from $8,095-$24,995. The Garden of the Cross Estates are $29,995.
“We have simple cremations beginning at $2,670 and Traditional Funerals beginning at $5,675 (not including cost of casket),” she said. “We accept existing transferable prearranged funerals.”
For more information, call Skyline Funeral Home at 708-534-8256.