I was very impressed with the service for a good friend who passed unexpectedly. The chapel had been updated recently, the video was in several locations (the funeral was crowded so this was very nice). The staff, especially the Funeral Director was very helpful and considerate of the family and friends having a difficult time. I would definitely recommend Higgins Chapel. read more

My good friends father recently passed and the service was held at Higgins Chapel. The staff was excellent, very caring, and accommodating. The remodel looks great as its been a while since I've been there. The state of the art video and electronics are pretty cool making it possible for people who can't make the service able to virtually attend, pretty amazing. I hope I don't need your services anytime soon but if I do I will surely call Higgins. Thanks again for taking care of my good friends father. read more

I spoke to Nicholas after the sudden death of my brother. He offered me condolence and assistance without a second thought. He was helpful and direct. I truly appreciated his time and concern. read more

Higgins Chapel is kind, courteous, knowledgeable, and understanding. After the death of my father-in-law, I was comforted with the personalized service that Higgins provided our family. They regarded every question as important, listening carefully to our specific concerns and providing helpful and tailored advice. In a time of struggle and confusion, Higgins was the rock my family relied on. I can't thank you enough for your wonderful care and expertise. read more

How do you begin to write a review regarding the death of a family member or loved one. How do you start to rebuild a life knowing someone who has played a huge role in life is no longer there. This along with several other hard questions is what I faced when my father passed away. My family had a general idea of what my fathers wishes were but we had no idea what all was required to place him at a final place of rest. My initial contact with Higgins Chapel was approximately 45 minutes after my father passed away. I made the phone call after regular business hours (10:45pm) and received a phone call back within minutes. The person I spoke with showed legitimate concern for my loss and reassured me that my father would be transported to Higgins Chapel with utmost care. The person then set up an appointment for the following day where my family could come and discuss final arrangements. The following morning, my family and I were greeted by "Scott" who showed us to a private room. Scott spent approximately 3 hours with our family going over details, explaining options, and showing us line by line what the costs of the service. Understanding tough financial times, "Scott" was able to provided options that were both economical and practical. Upon leaving Higgins Chapel, my family had no concerns regarding my father's service. The "staff" coordinated military honors with the US Navy, provided memory cards and a signature book, offered to make a DVD of the service, coordinated with the florist, and allowed us to bring in music for my father's service. The day of the service, the event went off without any unforeseen issues. There were many staff members on hand providing information for the guest and directions for the reception afterward. I've read other reviews regarding Higgin's Chapel stating the building is old and out of date and there were no staff on hand. My experience with Higgins Chapel could not be farther from that. Although the building itself has been in place for years, the facility is extremely up to date even to the point of allowing the option of video taping the event and streaming the video live to family members who were unable to make the service. As far as staffing, there were at least four staff members on hand during the service and I even received a follow up phone call a few days later, once again offering condolences and asking if we had any further questions regarding the service. In my opinion - Hats off for Higgins Chapel and their staff for a job well done. If I had the option of giving 10 stars during this review I would. read more

Our family highly recommends Higgins Chapel and Mortuary!! Their expert and extraordinary staff helped us create a truly unforgettable, beautiful funeral service for my beloved mother that was a unique reflection of her life. Higgins offers a "one stop shop" in providing meaningful memorial and funeral services that offer the grieving family a variety of options of public and private services from choosing the chapel, reception area, cemetery, funeral coach, flowers, catering, burial options, music selections, DVD presentations, videos, in-house printing of programs, prayer cards, etc. They offer families a memorable option for a service and reception in the same building, especially if they are not affiliated with a specific church or religious denomination. There is solemn dignity and honor that should be the standard of every funeral home, but I did not find that when I was "interviewing" Higgins' competitors in the local area. As a former recruiter, the interviewing and selection process was a key part of my job. Higgins went over and above our high expectations during a very difficult time when our mother passed away. They made the timely arrangements with the hospital to pick up my mother's body, handled the death certificates, and the tedious insurance policy processing. My siblings and I are incredibly impressed with the exceptional service of our assigned funeral director, Nicholas Welzenbach. He is a consummate professional who is knowledgeable in funeral and burial customs of all faiths and cultures. In addition to incorporating any religious or cultural traditions that were important to our family, he worked with us to plan services filled with personalized details just for our loved one. As a technology- savvy director, he fully understands and excels in the funeral industry and made strides in many different, innovative forms of technology and convenience. Nicholas set up an iPhone "facetime" funeral planning session for my brother who could not be present in the meeting room with us and spent countless hours customizing the service for our unique needs and budget. Nicholas also suggested that condolences, flowers, donations be posted on the Higgins website with the obituary so all family and friends can see them at anytime. We have received many positive comments from families and the community about this efficient service. He was extremely professional, courteous, resourceful, and compassionate in our many personal and last minute requests from setting up a dignified viewing to finding an extra microphone to ensuring the little children were not a disturbance. The whole staff at Higgins including the administrative assistants, ambassadors and funeral directors are an outstanding, attentive, friendly, cohesive and knowledgeable team. They anticipated our largest to even our smallest of needs such as ample tissues and water to directing guests to the appropriate rooms. My brother, Noel, also conveyed the following sentiments, "in the service where it mattered most to me, Nicholas and his staff took the extra time, care, and benevolence to present a special private viewing for my mother. This attention should be a standard in the industry but not always conveyed in every funeral home." It takes a village to honor an amazing life and bury your loved one and we are all forever thankful that we found and worked with Higgins Chapel! Eileen R. Former Director, Oracle Corporation, Interaction Center: North America read more

Higgins Chapel not only is professional but very caring organization and trustworthy . From the get go staff were very warm and inviting. We were blessed to work with Anthony Rodriguez who we entrusted my beloved brother. The amount of trust you seek during this emotional and stressful time is extremely important especially if like in our case was our first experience with a death and all that it entails due to it being unexpected. Anthony was patient and honest in explaining the services available and made an earnest effort to make our wishes come to fruition in all aspects. We highly recommend Higgins and especially Anthony as he exceeded our expectations. He is an asset to Higgins. Although other staff also approached us in a sensitive and attentive way. Very respectful organization . In addition the embalming and cosmetics aspect was on point. My brother looked very peaceful. Want to thank them for having the care to dress him and groom him as he was in life. He truly looked so good. I pray that they continue to serve our community in this manner as if the need should arise in the distant future we would gladly us them again. read more

I would like to thank Lisa Lamoureux, the director, she has been an angle and God send through the death of 3 close friends in the last 3 months. Her compassion, empathy, and professionalism is amazing ! I could have not been more BLESSED to meet her through the Antioch Chamber of Commerce. She and her staff are fabulous beyond words.... At such a hard time she made the process of creating the remembrance cards, video, arrangements, etc. seem effortless...... I can never thank her enough ! read more

My mother in law passed away last year. Higgins was one of the Mortuaries recommended to us by the Antioch Police Department. They were very graceful and forthright in our dealings with them. They were respectful at all times and helped prepare the remains for transport abroad and a small service in their chapel. They completed all of the arrangements and proactively kept us abreast of each step during that difficult time. read more

I have lived and worked in the Antioch area for nearly 40 years, and, sadly, when you are involved in your community and come from a very large family, you are bound to suffer losses from time to time, and whether that loss is tragic or expected, it is never easy. Although I have attended many memorial services and burials, nothing prepared me for the phone call I got 2 years ago that my mother, at 59 years old was in full cardiac arrest in her Antioch home...paramedics worked on her to no avail, and here I was with my siblings, devastated... trying to figure out what to do next. I had talked to Joy from Oak View Memorial Park in the past regarding setting up a "pre-needs" plan for my mother, so my 1st call was to her. Joy said was very upset for our loss, and immediately referred us to Higgins, where Scott and Nicholas stepped in. I can not express to you how very patient and tolerant these gentlemen were, even when dealing directly a difficult family member, they stayed focused on my mother's final wishes, and the budget we had to work with. Recently I attended a service for yet another family member at Higgins Chapel and I learned of some modifications and changes, such as a new reception room and the option of streaming live services online-which are great! So, perhaps I am a bit odd in my opinion on this, but I literally have a visual of paying several last respects in this warm, welcome, spiritual place...the big rock wall, the peaceful lighting, high vaulted ceilings, the private family area, the lavender bathroom-It is how I expect Higgins to look and feel. Much like when one pays a visit to a friend or relative's home. To sum it up, I highly recommend Higgins Chapel as well as Oak View Memorial Park for all of your end of life needs. I would urge you to contact them in advance and put a ,"pre-needs" plan in motion to ease the burden on your family if at all possible and talk to your family about your wishes. Death is never easy, but someone has to do the job of taking care of the business at hand, and I am glad that Joy, Scott, and Nicholas were there for my family in our darkest hour. Thank You! read more

When my mother passed, she had a pre-need arrangement with another funeral home out of town. After a painful reality slap of what the pre-need didn't cover due to mom dying in another city, Higgens Mortuary stepped in to help make the arrangements so that the pre-need agreement would indeed cover what it was intended to cover. The staff was very patient and kind through this discovery process. I can't express how grateful the family was for their guidance and helpfulness during our time of grief. They went out of their way to make arrangements and suggestions that helped us through this difficult time. read more

At the time of our family's mother's passing , we used Higgins Chapel and during all of the stress and sense of loss, we were treat by Nicholas and all of his staff with the utmost care and professionalism that we've known to expect from them with their fine reputation in our community. From the time that we first sat down with them to the grave side service, we could not expect more from a funeral company. read more

I am NOT impressed with Higgins Funeral Home. Although, the facility seems old and out of date my main complaint is the total lack of direction they provided. From the first time the family meet to make arrangements with the home it was evident they were clueless. My aunt made the choice of funeral home. On the day of my grandmothers funeral there was no one in the lobby to tell ppl where to go and welcome them. After the ceremony the minister walked over to my grandmothers casket and just stood there. There wasn't a director anywhere. After a few awkward moments someone came in and starting directing the people. Incompetence, sums up this group. The only thing I thought they did well in is my grandmothers natural appearance. I would never use this home again. Go somewhere else and get the help and direction you and your family deserves at such a painful time. read more

Recently a good friend and client passed. She had 9 years before arranged all her services with Higgins. They were so caring and kind to her children. The Director was very accomodating when one of her kids made a last minute request for a change. I have had several pleasant experiences over the years with Higgins and working with their staff. Thank you again for givng loving care for my friend, client and her family. The service was so nice. I have recommended folks to Higgins and will continue to do so. Thank you again!!! read more

Recently I attended the service of an old friend. The family was very sad and the day was extremely difficult for the husband. Higgins or the funeral director had taken the time to provide a treat for all the guests. The deceased favorite color was purple and her favorite treat was miniature brownies. They had the brownies laid out on purple napkins for all the guests to enjoy. This is the kind of thing that helped me through the service and focus on the positive of a dear Friend lost. Thank you for what you do in our community... read more