The Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home in Naperville held its 28th annual Memorial Luminary Program on Wednesday.
“We invite all the families that we served from the prior year, October through September, to come back and honor their loved one,” said Stephanie Jones-Kastelic, Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home co-owner. “We set up bags with all the loved ones’ names on them, give folks the opportunity to decorate the bag, and then we include a service with a different clergy person representing all different churches throughout our community, followed by military honors.”
Honoring the memory of loved ones with luminaries
Jones-Kastelic learned about the tradition from a woman at her church.
“A lady spoke to how she honored her young son that had passed. And it was with setting luminary bags on his grave every Christmas Eve, and she asked family, neighbors, friends, coaches, and teachers to decorate a bag for him in his memory,” Jones-Kastelic said. “It inspired me to think, well, we could do something like that for our folks here, and they could make it what they want it to be.”
Tyler Kinley attended with his family to honor his mom, who passed in February from Parkinson’s.
“They informed everybody that had had a ceremony this year that there was going to be this mass for them all, so of course we had to show up for that, couldn’t miss it. We had no idea they did this on a regular basis, so this is nice to see,” Kinley said.
Luminary comforts families ahead of holidays
The luminary supports grieving families before the holidays.
“The Christmas season is very, very difficult for families, and it’s a time that traditions are broken, and just, you know, all things are kind of shifted or changed. So just to come back and gather at that time, and just a way for them to honor their loved ones, to try to help with some of that healing and reconnection,” Jones-Kastelic said.
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