Allow me to share my experience with Willow Funeral Home and their owner/director, Charles Hanson…read more
I traveled from out of state to bury my mother following her sudden death. My first contact with Willow Funeral Home was when I called a couple days following her death (no one ever reached out to my brother or I - her only living out-of-state relatives), and I spoke to Mr. Hanson, who within the first 45 seconds of the conversation brought up his deceased daughter, and explained how this made him a great candidate to be my mother's funeral director. Not interested in your personal story, Charles, and grossly unprofessional. Several other people in my family brought this up as well, which they agreed was uncomfortable and inappropriate. The conversation lasted for about 5 minutes, and this was the only contact I had with him until after my mother's burial.
On the day of the funeral my brother and I arrived at a church we had never been to and knew no one at with our families. We were there for about 2 - there was an hour-long visitation and the following service. At no point before, during or following did anyone from Willow Funeral Home or the church ever introduce themselves to any member of my family identifying themselves as a funeral director or employee of Willow Funeral Home. We were not asked to sit with the family in the front, nor were there spaces reserved for my brother and I. The service was short and impersonal. No photos, no heirlooms. Just a casket and the flowers sent by my family and friends. Many others left the ceremony noting this.
Following the service, my brother and I stopped to speak with someone who stopped us, and the next thing we know my mother's casket, my family and the entire motorcade to the cemetery is gone. They left with my mother and never said a word to us, nor were we ever informed of the location of the cemetery. My brother and I jump in the car and frantically search for the cemetery, which we are able to locate within about 10 minutes.
As my brother and I pull up to the cemetery, everyone is loading into their cars and driving off. The ceremony was over, my mother was buried, and my brother and I missed it. The only two people remaining are a man in a trench coat and a middle aged woman, neither of whom I knew. When I ask who they are, I'm told the man is the funeral director, at which point I introduce myself as my mother's son and remark that we would have appreciated them waiting on us to bury our mother. It was evident in that moment Charles knew he had dropped the ball in a major way. He just buried a mother without her children. He offers an, "I'm sorry," which I'm not interested in hearing at that point. My brother and I are despondent, comforting one another in front of the hole that contains our mother. At this point we gather up a couple flowers and leave.
I call back to Willow Funeral Home about a week later to request a copy of my mother's death certificate. The response I get on the other end of the line is, "you've got a lot of nerve calling me here." The person on the other end of the line was none other than Charles Hanson. He proceeds to berate me for "embarrassing him," "making him look like a fool," and tells me that I am, "going to shut up and listen to him." At this point I am shaking I am so blown away by the degree of unprofessionalism I'm encountering. I continue to say I am not interested in arguing, I simply want a copy of the death certificate. The verbal tirade continues, where he speaks to me like he's scolding a disobedient child, at which point I lose it and say things I shouldn't have said. The call ended, and I have never heard another word from this organization.
I had one mother. She died, and this piss poor excuse of an organization run by a man who is more concerned with his own feelings regarding the experience made her funeral one of the grossest experiences I have ever had to go through. I will never forget the feeling of being chastised by a man who's sole job description is to be considerate of grief in all its forms. Charles failed catastrophically in that, both in the service and in his professional decorum. I would recommend you bury your loved one in the yard before ever giving this man a nickel of your business.
I have filed a complaint with the Missouri Board of Embalmers & Funeral Directors regarding this interaction.
