Stu Schell

                 Stu Schell - "At Your Service" Celebrant Services

             Personalized Funerals, Memorial, and "Celebration of Life" Services

             Religious Services for All Christian denominations

            Semi-religious & Non-religious Services

             Heavenly Homecomings for people and pets

        Patriotic Services for Veterans

        Creative Cremation Services

          Songs & Music & BOSE speaker provided

                References from Funeral Directors and families available on request

Over 350 times, Stu has had the privilege of coming alongside hurting families during their time of greatest grief, having just lost a loved one. He has done so as a Celebrant, Pastor, Funeral Director, Grief Counselor, and Crisis Chaplain.  Families commented about his kindness, care, and compassion in whatever role he was in. 

Many of those times, they asked him to officiate their loved ones’ funeral,  memorial service, or “Celebration of Life” Service. He opens his heart to the family, enabling them to share their grief and helping them to find the source of grace, strength, comfort, and peace they need. 

Stu’s main goals for these services: 

       1)  To listen well to the family members and together custom-design the personalized ceremony, so every element, including music, photos, slides, poems, scriptures, memory sharing by the family and friends, tributes, and the Life Story are expressions of the life of the departed loved one. Focusing on their special passions can result in a theme-based service. Focusing on what you love and appreciate about them will make the service uplifting. Stu is a creative storyteller at heart. He enjoys gathering the strands of facts and memories shared by the family. He uses them to weave a beautiful tapestry to be shared to honor the deceased. He encourages the family to be as involved personally as they are comfortable doing. 

Stu has developed family planning tools that help gather information incorporated into the service, a menu of service options to choose from, and give them step-by-step guidance for writing personal tributes.

        2)  To host and guide the Service. They usually evoke a variety of feelings and expressions: sadness and laughter, silence and singing, tears and smiles, and hugs. Family and friends are given the freedom they need to share memories and say goodbye in their own way. Most leave these ceremonies comforted, inspired, uplifted, hopeful, and glad they came. 

Comments from families who Stu served as their Celebrant:

I am far more than grateful for all the help and direction that you gave us while planning the Celebration of Life service for my Mom. You made the service come together in a way that was meaningful to all of our family.  You were able to help us find the direction for the service that would fill our needs and my Mom's requests. I appreciated when I made changes you supported my choices. You executed your position as Celebrant perfectly, knowing when to insert a comment to add to the moment. Thank you for making all of it possible. 

Thank you for the wonderful service and heartfelt sermon you provided for Dad’s "Celebration of Life." Your compassion and dedication were evident throughout the ceremony. Your effort made this tribute both meaningful and comforting for our family. We deeply appreciate everything you did to make it so special.

It was a pleasure working with you and thank you for your compassion during this difficult time. We were very grateful to have you be a part of our dad's story. Thank you for everything you did for us. 

Mom’s service was exactly what she wanted - a small family gathering at the graveside.  She would really have appreciated your role in arranging the tributes and adding your words and touch of humor to the gathering. The service would not have been nearly as nice without your presence.  You added the right amount of structure, prayer, and humor. 

You did an excellent job officiating Dad’s Memorial!   We could not have been more pleased. You “read” the family very well and responded with exactly what we wanted, but more than that… it was exactly what Dad would have wanted! It was uplifting, interesting as well as informative, and it captured the essence of Dad’s life. My favorite part was when you called all the kids up to the stage to dance to “Going Up to the Spirit in the Sky”. It was a perfect transition to the rest of the celebration.  Dad would have loved seeing that!!!  It was a joyous occasion and one I believe the children will remember fondly. As will everyone who attended. Friends and families all had wonderful things to say about the celebration. Thank you so much for making a stressful time much more comfortable.  You were terrific!

Our whole family truly appreciated your help officiating Mom’s service.  Not only were you great as the officiant, but you helped me in a meaningful way as I began to sort out what we were going through with the loss of our mother.  Your emphasis on the reality of heaven was so good to hear and absorb.

You cannot know how pleased I was with the memorial service that you did for me and my family. Everybody was saying how much they enjoyed everything about it. We were very pleased and could not have asked for a better one. We did good together, you and I! I am glad that you were our celebrant. God assisted me in finding a special person like you. May God be with you always, wherever you may be.

Words can’t begin to describe how helpful you have been. Please know how much you are appreciated.  Thank you for all your time and effort spent designing and conducting Dad's “Celebration of Life” service.  

We wanted to thank you sincerely for the beautiful job you did officiating Dan’s funeral. Your words were heartfelt, comforting, and captured his quiet, gentle spirit in such a meaningful way. We especially appreciated how you quickly found and played the Hawaiian music at the end of the service while the photo collage of Dan was being shown. That impromptu touch was so meaningful and brought back many cherished memories for our family. Thank you for helping us honor Dan’s life with dignity, compassion, and such thoughtful care. We are deeply grateful.