This funeral home has provided exceptional service to many family friends over the years at the…read moreCedar Rapids, Marion and Central City locations. Great personalities that kindly guide people in a difficult time. I appreciate Jeff and all the staff greatly.

Seems strange to rate a funeral home "Yay! I'm a fan.". But then again, I wore a red dress to my…read moreMom's funeral, so I suppose I've already disregarded the normal somberness that accompanies these things. I chose Murdoch in Marion for my Mom's cremation and memorial because we had my Dad's funeral at the Murdoch funeral home in Manchester, IA. The staff members were all respectful and helpful throughout the process. I had originally planned on using the Murdoch location in Cedar Rapids but changed my mind after we'd already sat down with the funeral director. Instead of passing me off to someone else he continued to work with me on the details and was at the Marion location for the memorial. That's going above and beyond in my opinion and I really appreciated it. My Mom didn't want a traditional funeral service but we wanted to have a memorial reception for her. It was obviously not the type of event they normally do at Murdoch (or most funeral homes I imagine) but they handled all my requests and didn't give me any push back at all. Ryan, the funeral director I was working with, was patient and helpful while walking me through the options for the service and obituaries. I was surprised how quickly they typed up the obituary and had copies for me to edit. They also very quickly got me pricing for placing an obituary in the Chicago Tribune. I expected both would be something I'd have to come back for later or would be emailed to me, but it only took about 10 minutes while I was busy with other decisions. When I showed up expecting a table in the room to put food and drinks on they had a table set up with everything I would need in about 5 minutes. Towards the end of a very long day I realized I'd have to figure out how to get all the flowers and plants home. Onore, who was helping Ryan and was available throughout the afternoon/evening for anything we needed, quickly let me know that they could deliver the flowers for free the next day. Maybe that's common for funeral homes to do, but I didn't expect it and I greatly appreciated it. These little things don't sound like a big deal but in the middle of a difficult time they make all the difference in the world. Now, when I say the flowers were delivered "free" I suppose that's probably not the right word. Maybe I should say "for no additional charge than the incredible amount they had already charged me". Had it not been for the incredible price tag of this modest event I would've given them 5 stars. I can't believe how expensive anything having to do with a funeral is. I can't help but think they're taking advantage of people, along the same lines as anything "wedding" related is automatically more expensive. I suppose this is probably more a comment on the industry, not Murdoch specifically. I would recommend any of the Murdoch funeral homes. They made a difficult time just a little bit easier and I can't say enough how important that is.

Definitely service oriented organization. They are so sensitive to families' needs. Thank you.read more

I can't even begin to express how wonderful they were. My baby brother died at the age of 18. It…read morewas a tragic and terrible time for my family, but Gay & Ciha helped make this as smooth of a process as possible. Mat took excellent care of my brother and my family. He said he treated and cared for my brother as he would his own child which was such a comfort. During the funeral, Mat ensured everything went according to our plan and preference while also taking care of us. Highly, highly recommended them.

This place has a monopoly in Iowa City My son wasn't…read moreallowed anything listed in their ads or on the FTC and state websites. I'm appalled to say the least. I don't even have his death certificate. No copies of anything. Just makes everything even more devastating.

Lensing funeral home was THE BEST EXPERIENCE!! They were so kind and caring- both emotionally and…read morementally. Deborah deserves 5 stars !!! She was a rockstar. It was such a hard time for me and my family to have lost my mother so suddenly. We came in on a Thursday and they were able to put together the most beautiful funeral service and celebration of life by Saturday! She helped write the obituary, told us where to order the flowers, had a whole room full of accessories for table centers and wine glasses. They had a separate large space for the celebration of life. Months later I am still getting praises that my mother's funeral was the best funeral several people had ever been to and I had a future in party planning . Little did they know it was all Deborah! The funeral was beautiful, they printed the pamphlets in 12 hours, the service they provided went above and beyond their call of duty, I almost wanted to hire her to be my wedding planner she was so on top of it lol. I know my mother looking down from Heaven was even impressed. I am from Los Angeles so was slightly demanding with my needs on how everything was set up, the food that was served and how it was prepared and Deborah was on top of it the entire way from start to finish. She also let me and my family see the body 2 days in a row before she as cremated in a private library, dropped off all the extra food and cups and pamphlets and flower's personally to my families home. Provided me the same paperwork like 5 separate times because I kept losing them as I am somewhat of a scatter brain. If you are having any doubts don't!! Use Lensing! They also have so many cool things you can do with the ashes, I bought silver ball earrings that look like the ones from Tiffany's with my moms ashes as well as these cool glass globes so we can my mom with me wherever I go. Anyways this is starting to get too long but you get the picture! I could not have imagined my mom's funeral to have been a happy time but it turned out to be just that. I left feeling happy, whole and so loved.

There's a first for everything. My review is from the point of view of attending a funeral remotely…read moreand using Conway-Markham Funeral Home's streaming feed. A dear friend of mine had her life cut short. She passed away a week ago from Leukemia, a blood cancer. Her family arranged her funeral with Conway-Markham. Her funeral was yesterday. My friend did was she does best. She was a planner. If you are a planner, I likely love you as a friend, because I work the same way. She planned her entire funeral. It's not that she was a control freak. It was what she did best and she wanted to take care of others. She always thought of others before herself, which happened right up to her death. She was truly one of a kind. She had lived most of her life in Iowa, which is where she was born and raised. However, she had stints living in Minneapolis and Boston. I know that she wanted her friends in these cities to be able to participate and celebrate her life from afar. Then, there's me. I was her only friend across the border in Canada. I am thankful that Conway-Markham invested in the best equipment to stream their funeral services during this pandemic. The Canada-US border has been closed since mid-March of last year. If we weren't in a pandemic, I would have flown down to see and support my friend. Instead, we got through this obstacle by communicating with each other through e-mails and text messages right up until her passing. The service was wonderful. It highlighted how selfless she was and how much joy she brought to everyone in her life. Staff at Conway-Markham skillfully and carefully shifted a few items before closing the top part of my friend's casket when transitioning from the visitation to the actual funeral service. They shifted the video camera to make sure that remote attendees got the best view during the service. The streaming quality was excellent. There was no lag or issues. It was my first time attending a funeral online. I would have been devastated if I couldn't attend my friend's funeral, but it was realized through technology. I was able to grieve properly, while celebrating how wonderful of a person she was. There were songs that were played. The audio was excellent. At one stage, my friend had recorded a voice message to all of us. The person who was trying to play it was experiencing some technical issues. A staff member from Conway-Markham swooped in to fix the issue. It was great. The voice message was poignant and many of us lost it, including me. It was also comforting to hear her voice again. My friend was a foodie. She made sure that everyone left the service with a packed lunch when it was over. It made me smile. It was so her. They were available from a different room at the funeral home where the reception was held later on. The service lasted for an hour. It stopped with the funeral director talking about everyone heading over to my friend's final resting spot. The service was smooth and it had everything that my friend had wanted. Conway-Markham made things as stress-free as possible for my friend's family and guests, so they could all focus on grieving and reflecting about such a special person. I appreciated the staff's professionalism throughout the service. Thanks to Conway-Markham for holding a modern service during a pandemic and allowing me to say goodbye to my friend a country away. (5)

From the owner: Conway-Markham Funeral Home & Cremation Services read more

Jason was amazingly professional and compassionate throughout the whole process of my father's…read moredeath. From early planning through his death and the celebration of life he was there as support through the whole process. He is an amazing man with incredible talents and Dubuque is lucky to have his presence. There are no words to express our gratitude.

Professional services in a compassionate manner. We feel cremation is the best solution to burial…read morebecause it is Eco friendly and responsible, Dealing with death needs to be handled by a professional in a caring way. Jason does this in an excellent manner. By limiting his services to cremation he is able to provide the complete assistance needed while making the services as affordable as possible. If you have decided on cremation you will not find a better place to call. He does an excellent job with this. If you review his website he is clear what he provides and what it costs. I do not know of another funeral director in the region who is this forthright and transparent. He has things structured so you get what you need without inflating the charges with things not essential. We are extremely pleased at how painless he made taking care of things. He discussed with us what had to happen and who was responsible. He did most of the things needed for us. We got thru the process in a matter of days without feeling pushed but feeling cared for in a way that made the process very simple and comforting. We highly recommend him and know you will not be disappointed by his assistance. There are things that can make this very difficult time very trying and if you have Jason help he will see that everything is taken care of in a timely and appropriate manner. I cannot help but emphasis I do not think things could have been done better.

The hallmark card has not been written to describe how wonderful the people that work at Stuart…read moreBaxter are! They came highly recommended and they certainly did not disappoint! From the time they picked up my husband, and I walked back into the room. There was a flower laying on his hospice bed, , such a comforting touch.. They listen to what I wanted for his funeral and visitation, and it was all good! I've never heard that's not how we do it, or that's not how it's done. They are amazing from beginning to end very professional. they are certainly a blessing at a time when you need it most! Nate and Mason and Jacob are amazing. Thank you again for everything that you did and continue to do. Mrs Kirk C

We have only positive things to say about Stewart Baxter! We needed their services in March of…read more2024 and primarily worked with Mason. He was absolutely wonderful. He was pro-active with helping us and we never felt as if we were asking too much or were a bother. Along with him, every staff member was helpful, compassionate, and very accommodating to our needs. Every ask we had, was responded to quickly and they were so caring. Their after-care team was very helpful and we had no idea they even offered that service. The building is beautiful and we thought seating for 300 would be enough, but we ended up with some standing. Even with that, all attendees were able to see and hear the service with the TVs and they offered live streaming, which was a need for our family. With over 500 people at the visitation, they handled the traffic and made sure people were safe as they were parking. The owners were both there at different times, making sure everything was going well. If there were any issues, they were transparent to us and we didn't have to worry about anything. We are so thankful for the staff at Stewart Baxter and would highly recommend them to handle your family's needs at possibly the most difficult time in your life. The family of Kyla Klima