This is one of those reviews for the type of business you hope you never have to write....but here I am.
My wife passed away 7 weeks ago. With about a 14 month illness proceeding I forced myself to try and plan a bit. I read all the funeral home Yelp reviews and looked at their respective websites. Considering things such as location and reviews I settled upon using Desert Sunset. We made no advance notification to them.
What I did learn is that several of the funeral homes around Tucson are owed by the same company operating under different names, but probably have different management at each. I never got into who owned who.
The first thing that I noticed is that the price of cremation was prominently displayed on their website. No other website that I reviewed had it publicly listed and all others said 'Call'. Now, it didn't mention that state law required you also provide or purchase a box for the cremation and that made the overall price go up - it wasn't a big deal.
When my wife passed the hospice nurse made the notification to the funeral home. Within minutes the driver/attendant (I don't know the proper title) called saying he was about 15 minutes away. I told him that was too quick and gave him timing that would work for us. It was no problem. When he came he was very professional and caring. He did one of the best jobs with handling our loved one that I ever had seen (I worked in fire/ambulance for over 30 years).
The next week I went into the funeral home to make final arrangements. The staff was professional and caring. Explaining everything that we needed to understand as well as steps we should be taking as a family now. There was no hard sell on anything. During our visit we asked if we could get a couple of locks of hair. They facilitated the request and we had the locks within a week. We didn't utilize the services of an onsite funeral or memorial since we were already planning that off-site. However, the facility looked nice and appropriate and I wouldn't hesitate holding a service there.
Cremation takes a bit of time (about 2 weeks or so). There is an option if you need the remains sooner. When the remains are ready you schedule an appointment (same day is OK) to come in. They have the remains in a large 'quiet room' that family can come in and spend as much time needed with their love one before taking them home. I didn't know this was how it was done, so I came alone and didn't need to use the facility.
They remain in contact long after services are performed. They asked if I wanted to be added to get an occasional email on things you should think about doing to settle estate-type issues, etc, and asked if I wanted an occasional text with support. They are automated, but if you respond a live human responds back with assistance.
I have truly been impressed with the caring, compassion, professionalism of this funeral home. If you are reading this review with an immediate or pending death, I am truly sorry. I wish you the best. Please know that these folks are good and I would never hesitate (hopefully never have to) use thier services again. read more