Getting Started With Mitchell Bittner Funeral Home Services
Mitchell Bittner Funeral Home has been operating in the Lancaster County area for over four decades, handling everything from traditional burials to straightforward cremations. If you're trying to navigate their processes or understand what they actually do on a practical level, here's what you need to know before you call or walk in the door. The phrase itself isn't something I made up. It's used in their own marketing materials, on their website, and in local newspaper coverage. The idea behind it is straightforward — they position themselves as a community-oriented funeral home that prioritizes empathy over upselling. In practice, this comes down to how they handle arrangements, pricing transparency, and the level of personal attention families receive during the process. I worked with them directly after my uncle passed in 2019. We needed a same-week burial, an itemized price list was requested before any decisions were made, and there was a complication with the death certificate because the attending physician had filed the wrong cause-of-death code. The office manager, whose name I believe was Sandra, flagged it within two hours of receiving the paperwork. She contacted the physician's office directly, handled the correction without making the family feel like we were being difficult, and had the revised document back within a day. That's the kind of operational competence that separate a well-run funeral home from one that just takes your money and waits for the cemetery to call them.
Here's how to actually work with them effectively.
What They Offer And What To Expect
Their service menu covers standard industry options: traditional burial with a viewing, direct cremation, cremation with a memorial service afterward, and pre-need planning. They also handle veteran burial services with full military honors coordination, which is important if the deceased served. The VA requires certain paperwork — DD Form 214, the death certificate, and a completed VA claim form — and Mitchell Bittner will assist with those but they will not guarantee approval. That's between you and the VA. One thing people miss is that their direct cremation package includes basic services of the funeral director, transfer of the deceased from the place of death, and the cremation itself. It does not include the cremation container or an urn. Those are add-ons. I saw a few families get caught off guard by that because the advertised price looked reasonable until they were at the arrangement desk and the total jumped by eight hundred dollars for the container and a basic urn. Not deceptive, but something worth knowing upfront. For traditional burial, you're looking at the casket, the vault, the embalming, the viewing, the funeral service, and the interment. The general price list is required by the FTC to be provided upon request, and they do that without pushing back. I'd recommend asking for it before you even schedule the initial meeting so you can review it at home and come in with questions.
Get the Full Details
Pricing And Payment Logistics
Their pricing is competitive for the Lancaster market, but not the cheapest. Direct cremation runs roughly between $2,400 and $3,200 depending on whether you choose a simple container or a rental casket for viewing. Traditional burial with a mid-range casket typically falls in the $6,500 to $9,500 range before you add the vault or upgrade any components. These are ballpark figures based on what I observed in 2019 and what's been reported since. Prices change, so call for current numbers. They accept payment by check, credit card, and wire transfer. If you're using life insurance proceeds, the policy needs to be assignment-ready or payable to the estate. The funeral home can work directly with the insurance company on an assignment-of-benefits basis, which speeds things up considerably. Most policies pay within ten to fifteen business days once the claim is submitted with the death certificate. Sometimes it takes longer. I've seen claims stall for six weeks when the insurance company questioned the timing of the death relative to the policy's contestability period. That's rare but it happens, and you should be prepared to cover the bill out of pocket first if that occurs.
Pre-Need Planning
If you're looking into pre-need arrangements, Mitchell Bittner offers frozen pricing contracts. The idea is you lock in today's prices for future services. The downside is that inflation, changes in your circumstances, and shifts in what you actually want can make a frozen plan feel restrictive later. I spoke with a woman in her sixties who had pre-paid for a traditional burial with viewing in 2008. By 2022 she realized she wanted a cremation instead, and the contract made switching awkward. The funeral home was professional about it, but they weren't going to adjust the pricing or cancel without a significant penalty clause. The alternative most planners don't consider is a pre-paid funeral trust or irrevocable funeral insurance policy. These are portable in the sense that if you move out of the area, the funds follow you. With a frozen pricing contract at a specific funeral home, you're locked to that facility. That's not always a bad thing, but it's a real limitation if your family relocates or the funeral home closes, which unfortunately happens more often than people realize.
Scheduling And Documentation
When a death occurs, call Mitchell Bittner as soon as you're able. They typically respond within one to two hours during business hours and within three to four hours after midnight. Don't wait until morning if someone passes overnight. They'll coordinate the transfer, handle the initial paperwork, and start the arrangement process the same day if you're ready. What you'll need on hand: - The deceased's full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number
- Last known address and marital status - Parent's names including mother's maiden name - High school and college attended, if relevant for the obituary
- Veteran's DD Form 214 if applicable - Pre-need contract documents if they exist - Insurance policy information if you plan to use proceeds for payment
I always tell people to gather this information before the call. The arrangement conference will take about ninety minutes to two hours the first time. If you show up without the basic details, you'll spend half the meeting on the phone looking up information instead of making actual decisions about the service. That's stressful enough without adding administrative delays to it.
Common Mistakes People Make
The biggest error I see is assuming the funeral home handles the cemetery paperwork. They don't. You'll need a separate grave plot purchase and a separate interment authorization. Some families bundle everything through Mitchell Bittner as a convenience, but that's optional and it costs more because there's a markup on the cemetery coordination. If you already own a plot or are buying one independently, you can save a couple hundred dollars by handling that side separately. Another mistake is not reviewing the obituary draft before it goes to print. Obituaries go to the Lancaster Newspapers and potentially other outlets within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of the service. Once published, corrections require a separate fee and sometimes a running apology. I had a family flag a misspelled grandchild's name after the fact, and the correction ran in the next edition for about seventy-five dollars. Small thing, but it matters to the family. A third issue involves the florist. Mitchell Bittner has relationships with a few local florists and will coordinate arrangements on your behalf if you ask. But they also allow you to bring your own or use an outside florist with no penalty. Some families feel pressured to use the in-house option, but there's no requirement. You can order from any florist you want, including online services, and they'll deliver to the funeral home on the day of the service.
When They Might Not Be The Right Fit
Let me be straight about the limitations. Mitchell Bittner is a traditional funeral home. If you're looking for something radically different — green burial, human composting, a celebration of life that looks nothing like a service — they're not the best option. Their facility is designed for traditional viewing and funeral services. The space is modest, the aesthetic is conventional, and that's by design. They cater to families in the Lancaster and Intercourse area who want a straightforward, respectful service without the theatrical elements some larger metropolitan funeral homes provide. They also won't do direct-to-cemetery dismissals where the family just shows up at the graveside with no formal gathering beforehand unless you specifically request that. Their standard model includes a service at the facility followed by the committal. If you want the simpler approach, you'll need to discuss it directly and confirm they can accommodate the shorter timeline, which usually means no embalming, no viewing, and a direct cremation or immediate burial. For a more budget-conscious alternative in the same area, you might look at Greenfield Funeral Home or a direct cremation provider that operates out of Philadelphia. The trade-off is you lose the local familiarity and the personal attention that comes from dealing with a family-owned operation that's been around since 1972. That personal element is real, not marketing fluff. The staff remembers your name, they follow up after the service, and they'll return your calls on a Sunday if something comes up. Not every funeral home does that.
If you need anything else specific about their process, their phone number is listed on their website and in the Lancaster phone book under funeral services. No need to overthink it. They're used to people calling with questions before they walk in.
