Memorials
© Copyright 2023 Art by Roxanne
In the Unitarian Universalist faith tradition, we often call a memorial service a "Celebration of Life" because we want to celebrate that your loved one lived and that their life touched yours and many others. My goal is to create a service that authentically reflects your loved one and supports you and all those who mourn their death. As such, there are very few absolutes. The service can be as religious or as non-religious as you like-- as long or as short as you like. The service isn't about me or Unitarian Universalism-- it is about you and your loved one. As cliché as it may sound, every death is unique because every life is unique, each human being a one-of-a-kind miracle of nature and experience.
As a minister, it is my honor and privilege to support you throughout the memorial, from its initial planning to its completion. I can help you begin to hold what feels unbearable. Grief is neither linear nor intellectual; it is messy and sometimes illogical, just like love. Jamie Anderson, a writer, describes grief like this:
As a minister, it is my honor and privilege to support you throughout the memorial, from its initial planning to its completion. I can help you begin to hold what feels unbearable. Grief is neither linear nor intellectual; it is messy and sometimes illogical, just like love. Jamie Anderson, a writer, describes grief like this:
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Grief, I’ve learned, is really love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot give. The more you loved someone, the more you grieve. All of that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes and in that part of your chest that gets empty and hollow feeling. The happiness of love turns to sadness when unspent. Grief is just love with no place to go.... My grief is my way of telling the great vastness that the love I have still resides here with me.
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My Memorial Service Includes
- A personalized memorial ceremony that authentically reflects your loved one and supports all those who mourn their death
- A memorial ceremony as religious or as non-religious as you like
- My status as a Licensed Minister by the Ohio Secretary of State
- My expertise as a hospital chaplain and an ordained and fellowshipped Unitarian Universalist minister
- Unlimited conversations for planning and initial grief support (by text, phone, and/or video)
- Coordination with the funeral home and/or cemetery
- Support on the day of the memorial
- Most importantly, a memorial ceremony that is worthy of your loved one
Pricing
Memorial or Celebration of Life $500
Graveside (only) $300
Travel
My travel fee is $0.75 per mile round-trip
If 75 miles or farther from Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship (Dayton, OH), lodging may also be required
Graveside (only) $300
Travel
My travel fee is $0.75 per mile round-trip
If 75 miles or farther from Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship (Dayton, OH), lodging may also be required
What Others Say
I wanted to thank you for the beautiful service in the church for Jennie. We were all impressed with the feelings of love and were assured of what we already knew about her.
~ Clara
Reverend Kelly has walked beside me through seasons of deep joy and devastating loss. She officiated the funerals of my dearest friend, my mother, and my grandmother — three of the most significant relationships of my life. In each of these moments, she did far more than conduct a service. She carried my family and me with extraordinary compassion, love, spiritual depth, and grace. Her ability to hold grief and trauma tenderly while honoring the fullness of each life is a rare pastoral gift. Those services were not only beautiful; they were healing.... Whether in the depths of mourning or the heights of gratitude, Reverend Kelly brings wisdom, steadiness, and a deep sense of the sacred to her ministerial practice.
~ Tina
Rev. Kellie did my husband, Dane’s, memorial service. I had given her a brief outline and she provided a remarkably beautiful service.
~ Priscilla
