By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

EVENDALE - A funeral home isn't always the kind of place people are eager to go. But this Sunday, one local funeral home is hoping, it'll be a place for people to start their new year with some peace.

The Nurre-Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home is sponsoring a multi-denominational memorial service for people who have lost a loved one in the past year. The service will take place at 2 p.m. in their Rest Haven Memorial Park building, 10211 Plainfield Road.

"We're a neighborhood funeral home, and so many of the families we serve are our friends. We want to just have a time to reflect," said Elizabeth Rosenacker, events coordinator for the funeral home.

Refreshments and fellowship will follow the half-hour service, which includes an invocation by the Rev. Michael Pucke of St. Michael Catholic Church in Sharonville and a closing prayer by the Rev. Richard Coldwell of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Madeira.

Alan Gruber, a bereavement coordinator with Hospice of Cincinnati, will speak at the service on "Life after Loss."

The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested. For more information, call 385-0511.

KING TO BE HONORED: Adath Israel Congregation in Amberley Village will honor Martin Luther King Jr. Monday with a breakfast at 9 a.m. and a talk by Rabbi Gary Zola, executive director of the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College and a participant in the civil rights movement.

Transportation will be avaihable to downtown, the gathering at 11:30 a.m. at Fountain Square, march and noon concert at Music Hall.

Reservations for the breakfast and bus transportation are required. Please call Ken Krivitzky, director of Youth and Family Programs at Adath Israel, 3201 E. Galbraith Road, at 513-793-1800.

PRO-LIFE RALLY: One of Cincinnati's largest annual demonstrations, the Pro-Life Rosary Procession and Rally, will be Jan. 24 at 11 a.m. at Cincinnati City Hall, 801 Plum St. The procession will go to Fountain Square for the noon rally.

The Rev. Joseph Greenwell of Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church in Norwood, a traditional pre-Vatican II church, said most of the expected 200 to 400 participants in the rosary procession will be Catholic, but the event, especially the rally, is open to people of all faiths.

"Anyone who cares for children and unborn babies is welcome," he said. "Prayer is going to be only thing that changes the hearts and minds of people on this issue."

The rally will include speakers from Cincinnati City Council and the Rev. William Jenkins from Immaculate Conception.

For more information, call the church at 731-8771.

To submit religion news, e-mail kvance@fuse.net or send a fax to 755-4150.