Fairview Cemetery & Arboretum is one of the most historic and picturesque places in Westfield…read more Established in 1868, it was created when the town's older church burial grounds were becoming crowded. It is both a cemetery and an accredited arboretum, with more than 100 identified tree species and self-guided tree tours. The grounds are known for their natural beauty, including wooded areas, a pond, and extensive landscaping. Fairview also serves as a historical record of modern Westfield. While many colonial-era residents are buried in Westfield's older Presbyterian Cemetery, many of the families who helped build the suburban town of Westfield are buried here. The pond, nicknamed "Ghost Pond," was still surrounded by woods when I was a kid in the 1960s. Back then, it was open to the public for ice skating. The scene in It's a Wonderful Life where George Bailey saves his brother Harry always reminds me of those childhood days skating on Ghost Pond. On my mother's side, my family lineage goes back to some of Westfield's earliest settlers. My parents and both sets of grandparents are buried here. In 2023, I worked with the cemetery office to arrange for my parents' burials in their family plot and to have a headstone made and installed. The staff was professional, compassionate, and easy to work with throughout the process. I grew up near Fairview and have been visiting since I was about ten years old. The grounds are beautiful, peaceful, and exceptionally well maintained. Fairview contains the graves of many of the families who shaped Westfield during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The cemetery includes a notable Civil War section, several historic monuments, and "Old One Horn," a Revolutionary War-era cannon displayed on the grounds. It is also the final resting place of several notable individuals, including Whitney Houston and Dr. Virginia Apgar, whose Apgar Score is still used worldwide to assess newborns. Whenever I return to the Westfield area, I make a point of stopping by to visit family members, friends, and the parents of friends who are buried here. It remains a beautiful and tranquil place that provides comfort while honoring the memories of loved ones.

I was here to pay my respects to singer Whitney Houston's final resting place which was easy enough…read moreto find. It is in one of the aisles along the eastern edge of the cemetery. I also found the burial spot of Doctor Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) who devised the Apgar score. The score is a very quick way for doctors to evaluate the health of newborns at 1 and 5 minutes after birth. The score is determined through the evaluation of the newborn in five criteria: activity (tone), pulse, grimace, appearance, and respiration. And if you missed it, that's a backronym of "APGAR." It is located in Section E, towards the northwest corner of the cemetery. Once those missions were accomplished, I was able to take some time to appreciate the rest of the cemetery. It is quiet, peaceful and in excellent condition. No damaged headstones, smooth roadways throughout and well mowed and trimmed grass. [Review 18318 overall - 151 in New Jersey - 1840 of 2022.]

All went well. Jackie explained everything. She is the most knowledgeable. I went elsewhere before…read moremeeting Jackie and I wasn't explained or told what Jackie went over. She is amazing and helped us so much and made it so much easier than we thought it would be and so much last then the last place we talked with. I recommend Jackie and her team at Cemetery Properties to everyone as they are the most professional in the Cemetery Industry!

My family and I are very grateful for the excellent care taken by Dooley Colonial with the recent…read morepassing of our mother/mother-in-law. We met with Ryan several times and he was very clear in his communications, and very compassionate. The evening of the wake and the funeral morning were staffed by Mary and Laura and another Dooley associate, and they were all wonderful to us. They helped us disseminate some of the flowers, which was a worry for me. I really appreciated the care and concern. The renovations to Dooley Colonial are very beautiful. We loved having the lounge room to take a little break and have a snack. No one will take better care of you than Dooley!

My Family & I would like to say a Big Thank You to Laura & the Staff at the Dooley Colonial Funeral…read moreHome. Your kindness and total attention to detail was so appreciated by my 3 Siblings & I over this past weeked. Laura took care of everything perfectly and even had a spare Titleist Golf Ball we could have out of her own golf bag, when we all realized that we had brought a Calloway ball and our Dad, Paul Aloia, would never have golfed with that brand! Talk about "Customer Service"! Everything went Beautifully. The renovations they have done have really made the area so comfortable and enhance the feeling of being in your own home and your own kitchen, providing sandwiches & soft drinks to family and friends. Thank you from the Bottom of our Hearts for your special care of our Dad. We feel you now have a forever friend in the four of us!

Raiken-Epstein produced the memorial for my family in 1990, 2011 & 2021. They did a nice job and…read moreinstalled the memorials at the cemetery. Raiken-Epstein was easy to work with and no problems.

I want to start by saying thank you to Terry and Nick. Losing my mom was not easy and being an only…read morechild I had no partner to bear some of the burden with. I found Terry to be a good source of knowledge and very straight forward. (That is my style). If you are looking to go somewhere and cry on there shoulder, this might not be the place for you. But the intake process is pretty lengthy. It took about 2 hours in total to complete all of the paperwork and making choices about the services. This could easily take 3-4 hours if you are not sure what you want or if you are a very indecisive person. Once the intake was completed and I had left the funeral home, I had Terrys direct contact information and I was able to communicate seamlessly at all times through a phone call or text message. Now on the day of everything was as expected and I was very surprised at the level of service of communication that Nick provided. At one point the flowers that I had ordered from a local vendor had not shown up and he called them on my behalf and ensured to mitigate the issue. The flowers were delivered and I was even refunded for them. Through the service Nick was hands on and available if anything was needed and even helped to coordinate an idea for a balloon release at the end of the service which was initially an idea that I had, but it was not a fully developed idea and he knew exactly what to do and when to do it. All in all I would recommend this company for anyone who needs a service for a loved one. Thanks to the Kowalski family, my family was able to grieve without the grief of drama or issues surrounding the funeral service itself.

I would like to thank Kowalski Funeral Home, for the wonderful service they provided. From their…read moreprofessionalism to their compassion in this difficult time, both Terry and Nick were outstanding. Words cannot express the work they did for us, from the smallest of details to the most important. I truly appreciate the Kowalski family. Thank you very, very, much!

My mother recently passed away and I had contacted Mr. Bill Mundy to arrange the funeral service…read more He and his associate Mr. Thomas Kenny treated me with the utmost respect during this very difficult time. They were very understanding and answered all my questions. Every detail was attended to with such high integrity and care. The funeral home is an old Victorian home consisting of 3 rooms. Only 1 funeral is handled at a time. The atmosphere was a very warm setting vs. a commercial environment. I would highly recommend Mundy Funeral Home.

I've known the Mundy family for almost 40 years and I can tell you that they run a caring family…read morebusiness with the highest integrity. Earlier this year, they handled the services for my father. They covered every detail and made this difficult time for my family as smooth and simple as possible. I wholeheartedly recommend the Mundy funeral home for the arrangements for your loved one.

Stellar professionals here at Galante! They buried my brother Fabian back in June and was extremely…read moresatisfied with every aspect of their work. The most professional I've seen in some time. I did mortuary work myself at Dover AFB and these guys were on par with that. And I'm not surprised because the Galante founders have a military background. I feel like we got the best service we could have asked for; it was pleasant, honorable, dignified, organized, compassionate and perfect. I believe our family would do business again.

Always tough reviewing funeral home. Major drawback was water fountain instead of bottled water…read morefor guests. Mourners usually are apprehensive of drinking from water fountain. Surprised that no representative was at door upon entering. Large parking lot.

we were pleased with the Professionalism and courtesy that we…read more received from Robert and Jeanette Gordon, they helped to make our difficult time easier by being patient and answering all our questions. explaining the details of the process. Going out of their way to work through all the issues that came with our loss. We appreciated all of their help. Day before the funeral we viewed how well they made my husband look like he was sleep. Reasonable price for funeral service and burial for husband who passed A way 08/09/2024

outstanding job by robert gordon of evans-gordon funeral home - i brought my 92-year-old dad home…read morefrom california to be buried. evan-gordon handled everything seamulessly and did a wonderful job at the service in morristown, nj - robert and his team provided us with the (tce) total customer experience