Seen At 11: New York Funeral Home Offering New Service Called 'DNA Memorial' For Clients

GARNERVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Garnerville funeral home is offering the ultimate gift by extracting a deceased person's DNA through a new service called the "DNA Memorial."

Noe Hamer, general manager of T.J. McGowan Sons Funeral Home, told CBS2's Maurice DuBois that clients now don't have to be left with unanswerable questions.

"This is a revolutionary breakthrough for us. We can offer families a keepsake of their loved ones' heritage," Hamer said.

Hamer explained that by extracting DNA from deceased loved ones, family members for years to come will know about predispositions or inherited diseases.

"With processing DNA, they can discover problems ahead of time and treat them," Hamer said.

Sisto Pileggi, who works with Hamer at the funeral home, wished the "DNA Memorial" was an option when his wife, Carol Pileggi, passed away at the age of 57.

"My grandson was 9 months old, my granddaughter was 2 1/2," Pileggi said. "I think that this would help them for future reference."

Funeral director Gerald O'Sullivan said the process of collecting the DNA is very simple.

"I did a very gentle swab of the check," O'Sullivan said.

The sample is sent to a lab for testing before being mixed with a binding compound and stored in a little capsule for safe-keeping.

"You can put it in your safety deposit box or keep it in your house as a memorial," Hamer said.

Hamer called it a "gift for future generations from your ancestor's past."

The "DNA Memorial" was first introduced in Canada, but is a relatively new option at funeral homes in the U.S.

The cost is around $300.