A Wonderful Experience in a Time of Mourning…read more My apologies for the long review, but the company deserves a good and long one. If there was ever a time for things to go right, it was my, dreaded, upcoming interaction with the "Bereavement Extortion Industry", which I have, unfortunately, dealt with in the past. My experience with Rod, owner of E.L. Collins funeral home, was the opposite of what I expected. My initial call to this company was met by a voice that was more interested in my needs and not their sales goals. I explained my apprehension and disdain for the funeral home industry to Rod, and about 30 seconds into our conversation I realized I wasn't dealing with high pressure sales accompanying a 3-page funeral options menu, and knew i found what I was looking for; a not-over-the top cremation process for my 93 yr. old father, without the funeral home visitation. Not having a fancy new building, with slick salespeople, made me initially believe I'd arrived at the wrong place. My ill father had been residing with me in Spartanburg for close to three years, but his burial site was in Charleston, S.C. Rod said that was not a problem. Since I needed a licenced funeral home to open the ground to place my father's remains, Rod said he would be glad to drive to Charleston to be present at my father's graveside service. I gladly paid him a nominal fee for this, as I never considered the requirement from the State to hire a licenced entity to access the burial vault. My option was to hire a Charleston-local company to do it, and it's expensive when you plan the funeral yourself and they don't get to extort a tidy sum for their other bereavement extortion services. I paid for a very affordable cremation, but this is what E.L. Collins (Rod) provided with that service. He guided me with writing my brief obituary, which was my father's wish. He helped me pick out the best picture and edited it for me, and submitted to both Upstate, SC and Charleston, SC newspapers (online also). As customary, he made made arrangements for me to obtain death certificates to take care of my father's affairs. He also made arrangements for a DOD-approved U.S. flag to be presented to me at my the funeral service for my father's military service. Then he drove 220 miles to be present for the burial. Organizing a funeral, without the full service of a funeral home may border on overwhelming, but I assure you it takes the business feel away from a funeral, and brings a more family feel to the process, and also, surprisingly, removed the dread cloud away from the entire process that was positively commented on by all of my family that attended. It became a celebration of my father's life versus a mournful event. If you are looking for a funeral home that isn't try to sell you something you don't need and extort you during your time of grieving, is very compassionate, helpful, and understanding, then E.L Collins Funeral Home is who you need to contact. To top it all off, Rod Collins is a wonderful person.

We had a family member suddenly pass away in Tennessee in May. My parents lived in South Carolina…read moreand near Spartanburg. while we were looking for funeral home services, we DID NOT come across this company first. Well let's just say, the home we were going through was a complete disaster after our first initial visit. The picture they had online were nothing like their establishments and they had no interest in anything except talking money. So we left, and came across this gem online not far from us. Needless to say when we stopped by, we were first greeted by a woman named Karly who was an absolute angel. She took time to give her condolences, and ask our needs for our family. She showed us around the facility, and my parents loved the chapel immediately. The beautiful stained glass windows were such an eye catcher and it felt right for our needs. We had the pleasure to meet one of the funeral directors Scott who was top tier! He was very respectful, patient, and understanding with our family and all of our concerns were heard whole heartedly. He and Karley fought through all of the legalities and red tape in TN and got my brother back to SC HOME where he belongs. They took care of all the paperwork, phone calls and emails communications with the hospital, and medical examiner's offices and arranged transportation to bring him home. After that they cremated him and had set up the funeral arrangements for us. The staff we met that day was overwhelmingly supportive and respectful to everyone. They gave our family member the respect and dignity he deserved for his final moments. I cannot say enough about this business, even though they are a business, they never let the money or ugly part of death affect us in any way. The respect and admiration I have for Scott, Karly, Patrick, and Ann are boundless. They helped our family in the most precious moments of our lives and for that we are forever grateful to them.- The Donnelly Family

No one likes this process, having to care for a loved one who has passed. I lost my 28 year old…read moreson David 3-1/2 years ago in California do to an undiagnosed illness, you can only imagine the agony. I was unable to leave him behind so I brought his remains back home with me and my daughter to South Carolina. This pain will never cease, but it didn't feel right having him here as he belongs back at his home in the California Sierra mountains. As my daughter and I make plans to take him back to his beloved mountain this weekend we had to break the original seal on his temporary container in order to remove some of his remains as we have special plans to honor his memory. We don't want to travel with his container unsealed so I searched for a local funeral home to reseal the container and I am truly blessed to have found J.F. Floyd! I made arrangements to bring my sons remains to them so they could carry out my request. When I arrived I was welcomed with true sincerity and compassion. Yes, it's their job to be like this, but the level of undivided attention that I received was far beyond my expectations. As I explained my situation, each person I spoke to looked me straight in the eyes and listened as if they will be caring for their own loved one. A woman, I believe her name was Diane, asked me to take a seat as she took my son upstairs. As I sat waiting on the couch several staff members walked passed me and each one of them stopped to be sure that my needs were being taken care of. A short time later a soft spoken gentleman brought David back to me with his temporary container sealed and in a beautiful velvet satchel. Any one of us having to care for a loved one that has passed on has an emotional task to complete. I'm confident that J.F. Floyd will do their very best to meet your needs with the utmost respect.

It's truly sad that the funeral home can get paid but everyone else has to wait another 4 days to…read moreget there money and the money he is holding is the money the family paid upfront and was told to bring the money when Mr. Hicks arrived. Bad business. People should think who provides care of your love ones.

Horrible experience! Stay away from this business!! Our family member's funeral was cancelled by…read morethe funeral home the morning of the funeral, leaving the family distraught and hopeless. There were numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact the funeral director, who refused to respond to the family. In a time when people are most vulnerable and hurt from the loss of their loved one and to be treated without dignity and respect is utterly disgusting. They deserve to be shut down! Save yourself the heartache and look elsewhere.

Today I stopped here at Magnolia Cemetery. It's dreadfully old. As a matter of fact this particular…read morecemetery gave me the creeps! This one gave off spooky vibes! There's an array of burial sites of people that were involved in the origins of Spartanburg! I saw an unusual tomb and took pictures of the older graves. I hope you enjoy them.

It was really fun but also really spooky. I love spooky stuff so it made me be really happy to be…read morethere.