Southern Funeral Traditions

There will be many funeral traditions in addition to Moneta, VA funeral services. These are Southern traditions that have endured because families pass them on to their children and their grandchildren both by example and by explaining, starting with, “This what you do.” 

One Southern funeral tradition is that people who attend the visitation, the funeral, and the graveside service dress up as a sign of respect to the deceased. This includes wearing black or dark clothing that is conservative and modest. While you may see jeans, t-shirts, baseball caps, and tennis shoes at a Southern funeral, they’re rare. They are frowned on and are considered disrespectful to the memory of the deceased and the grieving family. 

Another Southern funeral tradition is sending flowers to the funeral, even if donations to a charity, cause, or medical support group were requested. That’s just the first response Southerners have when they hear someone has died. They are not being dismissive of the family’s wishes, but instead they are following a long-held automatic tradition. Enjoy the flowers because they come from the heart. 

Food and lots of it is a deeply-embedded Southern funeral tradition. As soon as friends and neighbors find out someone has died, they set about in the kitchen to make casseroles, fried chicken, deviled eggs, potato salad, pies and more to take to the grieving family’s house. And expect someone to stop by with a dozen doughnuts. While the family may not feel much like eating, having food in the house when they do is a great comfort and help. Nothing says love in the South like food. 

Another Southern funeral tradition that is followed more seriously than in any other region of the country is showing respect for funeral processions. When drivers in the South see a hearse with cars following it, they will pull off to the side of the road until the funeral procession has passed by as a way to show honor to the grieving family and other mourners of the person who has died. 

There are very few private funerals in the South. Funerals are a community affair and many people, some of whom the family may not have seen in years, will come to the visitation and funeral service to offer condolences and to pay their respects to the deceased. Many people will attend the funeral of someone they had only a passing acquaintance with because in the South that’s the right thing to do. 

A Southern funeral tradition that is unique to New Orleans is the second line when a musician or a prominent person dies. The community bands together with musical instruments and forms a procession line, playing music while following the hearse to the cemetery. 

Southern funerals are often a spiritual affair. Because of this, Most Southern funerals tend to be long (an hour or more), in part to reassure the bereaved family and mourners that the deceased is all right with the Lord and in part to give the unsaved in an opportunity to be saved through an altar call at the end of the service. 

If you want to learn more about funeral etiquette at Moneta, VA funeral services, our compassionate and experienced staff at Conner-Bowman Funeral Home & Crematory is here to help. You can come by our funeral home at 62 Virginia Market Place Dr., Rocky Mount, VA, 24151 or you can contact us today at (540) 334-5151.