The purpose of this article is to analyze memorial services as a social interaction. I try to define the functions of funeral ceremonies, which is one of the most general cultural and social actions related to death. A funeral ceremony has four functions; (1) the burial or disposition of a dead body; (2) the inheritance of social status or economical assets; (3) the restoration and preservation of social networks; (4) co-memorializing of the dead. Focusing on the fourth function, social interactions between the survivors and imagined dialogues with the dead are discussed to analyze the mechanism of co-memorializing of the dead. The conceptual framework of memorial services suggests that the consciousness and action of the living are affected by the accumulation of memories of the dead.