Bell-O'Dea did a marvelous job with my Mom's funeral this past Saturday. Months before her death we…read moremet and John O'Dea opened an irrevocable burial trust with me, which allowed me to make smaller payments toward the total bill and spread out the financial impact. And believe me, if you have an older parent who insists on traditional burial, there is a lot of financial impact associated with this event. Although John was literally hours from flying out of town when I contacted him again, he arranged a wake the next day and a funeral on a Saturday (with a priest who was also out of town at the time), which would allow the maximum number of friends and family to attend. He also put Mike, his second-in-command, in charge of things. Both did a wonderful job. When John told me there would be a $700 additional charge from the cemetery to prepare the grave on a Saturday (yes, it costs $700 more to dig a hole on Saturday than on Friday), he immediately suggested that we could save $400 by nixing the family limo to take us around that day. Which turned out to be a great idea. When my sister wanted to place a funeral notice in an out-of-state paper, John helped her cut back the notice just enough to save a few hundred dollars on the charge (yes, it costs hundreds of dollars to place a death notice in a newspaper in 2015). He also researched the grave site I had purchased ten years earlier and let me know that we could place two urns of cremated remains on top of the casket at a later date for no extra charge. With grave sites now costing thousands of dollars, this was also very thoughtful on his part. At the church, Mike and his crew led family members up to speak in a very respectful way, and at the gravesite, Mike picked the most fragrant roses from the bouquet on the casket after the ceremony and handed them to immediate family members with a kind smile. Those white roses, which were gorgeously fragrant, became a way to draw us all together and will be a treasured positive memory from a surreal and painful moment. I highly recommend Bell-O'Dea for anyone in the Brookline or surrounding area.

I selected Bell-O'Dea based on the location convenient to Forest Hills Cemetery. My entire family…read moreand I were extremely grateful for the professional and compassionate service we received. Every detail was carefully taken care of by George and the team.

Thanks for these great ideas and well organized service!!! I would like to thank Mark for his…read moreincredibly professional and very personal advises. He was soft, caring, knowledgeable. Mark makes things very simple and takes the time to understand all of your needs We had some scheduling challenges because of family coming in from out of town and out of state. He made us feel as though we were their only funeral, but I know they were very busy and more than once went above and beyond to ensure that our service was special. This is a place that will definitely take care of your family's needs in a time of mourning. I will forever more recommend Stanetsky funeral.

I would like to share with everyone the terrible experience I had on October 31, 2025 while…read morevisiting Stanetsky during the funeral of my brother in law. The gathering for the mourners was reserved at Stanetsky funeral Home between 9:45-10:30 am on October 31. The funeral must be taking place at 11am at the Baker St. Jewish Cemetery. But instead of waiting in the Funeral Home until 10:30 the service organizer gave the order to leave funeral home at 10:10! As the result of this disrespectful action to the grieving people many friends and relatives that came at the right time to the Funeral Home missed the gathering and had the problems to find our procession... I found this absolutely insulting to the mourners. I found this problem only after our funeral procession was on the middle way to the cemetery when my friends started to call me and ask where are you?. I have a question for the director of this Home and for the organizer of this funeral: Is it my job as a mourner to check the timekeeping? Why did we not stay until 10:30 as agreed and pay you with a lot of money for that? Do you have a heart and respect for the mourners??? Are you working in the right business? Why did you give the order to leave home before time for 20 minutes????? Because of this insulting action to the mourners, we came to the cemetery ahead of time.! We supposed to stay on the cemetery under very bad weather conditions and wait rabbi there about 30 min!!!!!! until he comes. Rabbi service was also sooooooo bad that all of us could not wait until he stops talking.

In planning the funeral of our mother, we were aided by the compassion, guidance, and attention to…read moredetail of Elizabeth Brasco at Brezniak Funeral Directors. The day itself not only went smoothly but truly honored her in the way she deserved. We noticed that Elizabeth was there the entire time, quietly keeping things coordinated and allowing us to focus on friends and family without distraction, at a very difficult time. The entire Brezniak team went beyond what was necessary in this endeavor. We are most grateful and we recommend this business without reservation.

As an attendee, not a customer, I'd say that they are pretty professional and patient with large…read morecrowds.

I have used Lehman and Reen for multiple family members. The wakes and funerals have been done with…read morerespect and care. The memory videos were beautifully produced and staff went out of their way to insure satisfaction. Excellent service. Highly recommended when dealing with an anxiety ridden event. You and your loved one will be properly cared for.

I went to them to have a friends cremation . They never told me about him being eligible to…read morereceive monies to help defray the cost. He had DTA and social security. tney made me feel like I had to pay upfront, which I did. Being on SS myself, I really couldn't afford it but felt I had to. it was my first funeral arrangement but not theirs. For that reason I a, warning anyone else in my predicament to find another funeral home.

I highly recommend Casper Funeral & Cremation. I prepaid for a cremation for my mother online. When…read moreshe passed, the two people they sent to pick her up put a flag over her because she was a veteran. I was so touched by that. Everyone involved was so incredibly helpful answering questions and giving updates throughout the process.

They made the whole process extremely easy. During trying times it's easy to get taken advantage…read moreof. I contacted 3 funeral homes in preparation to a family member dying. Our local one came in with the cheapest cremation costs. A friend recommended Casper and it was almost half the cost from what our family funeral home quoted us. That was with a discount as well! I called Casper about 2 months beforehand and they were very detailed and provided all the info that was needed. I had multiple phone calls with them and they were able to assist me even though I was in California. I mostly spoke with Jake and Colton during this process. When I arrived Saturday was the only day I could go down and we had a snowstorm the day prior. Roads were pretty bad and they were able to accommodate me even though they had a service going on. Parking can be a nightmare there, I parked a few blocks away near a barber shop. I would recommend this place to everyone!! I was truly blown away by their service and empathy.

this used to be a classic Jewish funeral home who would turn away others but now they've been…read morebought by giant company they take everyone and do all services from cremation to shooting you in the space and honestly my experience from the half a dozen times I've gone to services and from the two times I have thrown services has been pretty good here and I think we're going to continue using them as a local group it's easier to go where you know where to go they kept all the imporrant people. Linda is amazing, she rolled with my dark humor and our extra technology needs like sending a zoom over sees. she was finding us a tri pod before I even thought to ask. Oxana a lovely rabbi, Dan super helpful and has been after as well. I both hope to work with and never to work with any funeral home again. Im just off setting the one star cuz my next funeral will probably be here!

NEVER AGAIN. Stanetsy was the funeral home of choice for my grand parents... so when it came time…read morefor my dad, I phoned the "family" funeral home - it was late at night, no time to shop for the right funeral home. Once my dad was there- It was a sell job, regularly trying to up the game and cost. We wanted cremation. As for cremation, among the request was to split the ashes. Not unusual. We received a corporatee style email confirming the number of "tablespoons" . Yes... I have the email. Further to our chagrin and embarrassment, (we paid in advance, cremation was complete and we had my Dad's remains with us) was the appearance of someone from Stanetsky (late...) with chairs at graveside and while I was standing in front of open grave with Rabbi about to start our prayers, I was approached by him - he had papers for me to sign, that although my brother had signed the conteact, they also needed my signature- WHILE WE WERE STANDING AT THE OPEN GRAVE. There I was signing papers while everyone gathered waited.... horrified! NEVER AGAIN. - Take the time and shop around - ahead of time.

We reached out to Magni's when my Mom passed unexpectedly at Mass General. We are not from the…read morearea and it was hard to know who to trust. From the first contact to the last, Magni's were caring and professional. They even accommodated several special requests. It was a real comfort in such a sad time to have them care for Mom.

I used the Magni Funeral Home this week for the funeral services and cremation of my father. I…read morecoordinated with Arthur Magni who was professional, respectful, and responsive right from providing the quote, coordinating a funeral home visit, and arranging for all the paperwork needed, and the arrangements for the viewing and the funeral services and cremation (held at Mount Auburn Cemetery). The death of a loved one is a time of deep distress and Arthur was wonderful in the way he worked with me and our family. I also want to note that I live in Austin, TX, so some of the coordination was done on phone/text/email. We had a Hindu religious ceremony and services and Arthur assisted ably with that. (we located the priest). The facilities in the Magni funeral home are updated, dignified, modern, and graceful. I give Magni funeral home and the professional services provided by Arthur, five stars and recommend them strongly.

My Mother recently passed and they made the entire process so easy and walked us thru the whole…read moreprocess. There are not enough words to say what a great job they did or how amazed everyone who visited was. If you want to see something done right don't go anywhere else. While this should have been the saddest day of my life I was happy because everything was perfect. I am so grateful to them for such a great job. Make the right choice and choose Joyce.

Wonderful,sensitive, understanding during the hardest event for the family.All were understanding…read more Thank you

I recently read about the lives of poets Sylvia Plath & Anne Sexton. Since I'm in the 02321 for a…read morehouse-sitting gig, I decided to pilgrimage to Sexton's gravesite in Forest Hills cemetery--an absolute hidden gem (the cemetery, not the gravesite). The main office staff was lovely, outfitted me with a map, and off I went to find Anne. If you are at all interested in the literary strides these lady poets made during a time of complete male dominance & as forerunners to second-wave feminism (all while managing mental illness), I've got a book for you! Visitors to the Sexton family grave left stones, an embroidered handkerchief, and even a bottle of perfume. I figured I'd find ee cummings (because I was told how tricky he was to find). He's hidden next to his wife's family grave (Clarke) with a flat marker, so I did some hunting and Googling to find it. I also saw Eben Jordan (founder of Jordan Marsh) though I did not know who he was at the time. His mausoleum commanded a lot of burial real estate. You drive your car throughout, park as you would in any cemetery, and stroll around. Gates close at 4:30pm. (could be 4 pm).

Beautiful grounds and this is a huge place. People have been buried here since 1800s. I was able…read moreto find my grandmother's spots, my grandfather's spot and now the resting place of my uncle.