This update is more about who we got on the phone to have an elderly pet that passed cremated…read more Whoever answered on the phone while trying to get a cremation time set up seemed very put out that she even had to answer the phone. She was highly noncommittal to us coming that night or even the next day to make arrangements. She said that maybe somebody would be in the office and maybe nobody would because they were just so very busy. It didn't help that she was distracted the whole time on the phone making her responses very unclear to our questions. She could've said "no" that they were too booked but she wasn't committed to saying that either. Perhaps the cemetery changed management which resulted in this service decline. At any rate we went with a different company which resulted in a positive outcome to a somber situation.

This cemetery is right across the street from my dad's house. It is a cool old cemetery that is…read morevery well kept. I think most of the graves here are very old as there is never many visitors. They have a huge crypt which my dad has already reserved a space in for his ashes and a very efficient crematorium onsite. There is also an interesting derelict area of the graveyard that may contain the remains of historic Figures from Tacoma's sordid past.

Our 92 year old father passed away somewhat unexpectedly in March-20 years after our mom. Dad's…read morewill and voiced preference was for Gaffney to handle his funeral wishes because they had provided for respectful and excellent care of our mom. Gaffney FH took great care of both of them. My sister and I met with their representative there to go over and sign everything and left out feeling satisfied and proud to be able to honor his wishes.

This review is a year delayed, but should still hold true…read more.. When my father was going downhill, I went to Gaffney for pre-planning...it was so helpful. They explained the process and costs (particularly with particulars related to a Catholic funeral and burial), and helped ease me into everything. Overall, Gaffney's really made things as painless as possible and did so in a considerate and kind way. Even when the newspaper messed up the obituary, I let Candace at Gaffney's know and she immediately took care of working with the newspaper to reprint correctly the next day. There are two reasons I docked a star: 1. I really wish they would have told me then to start gathering pictures for a collage and/or slideshow (we just did a collage) - not until he died did i realize all that I needed to pull together; it was so time consuming, and emotional, and I didn't realize what to expect. 2. I requested (on behalf of my brother) that the casket be closed at the church/funeral (and there had been an open casket wake the day before), but it was open when my brother got to the church and was upsetting to him. Luckily it was at a distance, so not too bad, but still it was the opposite of what was requested. If I have the need to work with a Tacoma funeral home ago, I would definitely go back to Gaffney's.

Do you have any idea how haunted this place is? We all know…read morewhat happens when a house is built on top of an old indian burial ground, but do you know what happens when you build a CEMETERY on top of an old indian burial ground?! That's right, it's double haunted! Here's a small excerpt from the Endangered Cemetery report: Condition: Cemetery in danger of destruction Vandalized: Yes VA: Gravestones-Overturned VA: Gravestones-Broken VA: Gravestones-Stolen VA: Graves-Desecrated Overgrowth: Graves-Disturbing Overgrowth: Gravestones-Disturbing So what happens when you build a cemetery on top of an old indian burial ground, and then you abandon it, and then you desecrate it? I'll tell you.... TRIPLE (possibly QUADRUPLE) HAUNTED!!!!! I've actually hunted ghosts here before. Don't ask me what I was going to do with a ghost once I caught it. I was thinking about wearing it in a vial around my neck just to be weird. It's not like I can have it stuffed and hang its head over my mantle. That would be cool though. "oh that? I bagged that one in the autumn of '07 up at Comet Lodge, she put up quite a struggle, that one. Hehehe" I thought it'd be funny to catch one and throw it at Scott K. just to watch him flip out "GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!!" like he does with spiders. Anywhoo.... This place is great for a last date, or a 30th birthday party, or just a good old fashioned night of getting high and freaking the shit out of your friends. "When the members of my tribe become a myth among white men, when you think that your children are alone in the field, the shop, the store -- they will not be alone. When you think that your streets are deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled and still love this land, for the dead are not powerless. Dead I say? There is no death, only a change of worlds." ~~Chief Seattle

Last weekend I had the opportunity to tour Comet Lodge Cemetery and learned it's captivating,…read moretroubling and often heartbreaking story. Although a few headstones remain, most have been bulldozed or destroyed over the years. Today hundreds of gravesites lie under the grassy, undulating ground, unmarked and forgotten. Come pay your respects and listen. Can you hear their stories?

First of all when they say affordable they mean it. My friend lost her son unexpectedly. She needed…read morehelp finding a place to do his cremation. My daughter and I called at least 6 places, all promising reasonable prices, not true we were quoted from $1450 +add'l charges to over $2000 quote from The Neptune Society ( the most expensive of them all), I finally saw Oakwood Hill at a price of $795 which includes pickup of body. And we were able to make arrangements online. What a life saver, there is a fee of $100 charged by King Co that everyone told me about and there was no way getting around it since he died in King Co, but still, the purchase of death certificates and it came out to be well under $1000, $958 to be exact. Now that to me was very reasonable. Most places charged and extra fee if the body weighed over 250lbs, unfortunately because if circumstances he gained a lot of fluid weight and it put him slightly over that weight max without the extra weight charge. Well, Oakwood Hill had a max of 300lbs so there was not the extra fee charged, which I noticed their extra fee was not as expensive as the others quoted. Once everything was ordered and paid, we filled out the death information which was extremely easy, the online order form made sure all necessary information was put in before we sent it on. We did need to call Oakwood and let them know and they then had us call where his body was to give them permission to pick up the body. The staff member I spoke to was extremely kind and helpful. She showed her compassion. I did let her know how the online ordering was so easy and really made a stressful and sad situation much easier to navigate through. Thank you Oakwood Hill and know that I will always recommend you for anyone needing your services. And, readers do yourself a favor if you are considering cremation for yourself or someone they do prepaid so that whenever the time comes you or your loved ones do not have to stress trying to get services and possibly paying extremely high fees.

I like to walk and cemeteries seem to be the best place to go where I feel safe. After all, I am…read moreafraid of the living people, not the dead. The mausoleum is absolutely beautiful and very art deco but I understand it's very old and may be torn down in a few years. There's even a little apartment there, but the staff wouldn't show it to me because they said it's for staff only. I would love to live at the cemetery so I was very interested in seeing it. However, it is a great place to visit to just get some time alone and some quiet. I would love to have my ashes stored here, but I don't know the prices as of yet. It looks like they also do cremations and water cremations, but the water cremations cost more. It's worth it because you can plant stuff.

This was the first time I prepared a funeral. I was shopping around and landed at Bonney Watson…read morebecause of several reasons: 1. All of them were easy to work with 2. Their services were amazing and professional. 3. They know what I needed. 4. Their price is very reasonable. I highly recommend Bonney Watson to everyone.

I had the privilege of working with Cammie when my mom passed away in October. No matter how much…read moreyou prepare, the loss of a loved one is intense, immense, overwhelming and devastating. From the moment Tevan took my call that awful evening she passed, to the care and compassion rendered at my house at her removal by Chris, to the dedication, care and professionalism of Cammie, Randy King, Summer and all involved in her care.. they made sure even as a commoner my mom was treated as a queen. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for ALL you did for my family in my darkest time.

We were in a need to have one of our pets cremated recently and New Tacoma Cemeteries got us in…read morefairly quickly. We called around at other places that did pet cremation services and either nobody answered the phone, couldn't commit to it or appointments were needed and felt really far out for something that our household didn't really want to sit around on and not have at least get the ball rolling. We got in the next day and our elderly dog that passed got cremated a few days later. Of course our dog's death occurred right when a weekend was coming on and so having the cremation done had to wait until the following Monday. But New Tacoma Cemeteries had a great selection of urns for our dog. We picked a very nice wooded one and we're quite pleased with it and the service once it was completed. As I imagine as the staff are tailored to be they were very understanding and sympathetic to our recent loss and did a great job. Our 15 year old Chihuahua passed away at home. Her name was Brazil. Once time allowed we scattered the ashes on her favorite ocean beach. We will definitely keep the urn as remember fondly our pet but more importantly a family member that we lost.

My SO and partner, Joyce Huseby, recently passed away unexpectantly. To have a loved one die is…read moredifficult enough, but to have the death come unexpectantly just doubles the emotional pain. Over the decades my family has turned to New Tacoma Cemeteries to handle all the services necessary for handling deceased relatives. Paul Lovgren was assigned to me for handling the arrangements for Joyce. I can't say enough about how compassionate, professional and helpful Paul was. His also provided some much needed and timely advice for making the memorial service a success as well. My thanks to Paul and all the other staff members involved.

I have been doing funerals now for nearly 25 years as a Catholic priest. Most of the funeral homes…read moreI have worked with have been excellent in being courteous and responsible to the families they serve. My experience today with M.B. Daniel Mortuary Services was not at all pleasant. They were supposed to arrive at the parish at 9AM so the family could have some time with their deceased in our chapel. Our funeral Mass was scheduled for 10AM. They arrived at 9:48AM and when asked to park under the awning so that the family wouldn't have to walk a long distance to accompany the casket, they responded, "I parked where I parked." There was no explanation or apology for their tardiness and when the funeral Mass was over they weren't even in the church to help. This was one of the most disappointing experiences I have had with a funeral home. I certainly won't be recommending them to any parishioners in the future.

This review is of the owner. He was supposed to be in charge of care of my husband when he was…read moreemployed at another funeral service which is now defunct. Everything that this guy did was a mess. Forms filled out improperly, incorrect information and no follow- through on any assurances that were given. I wouldn't let him bury/cremate my cat.

Scanlin is amazing. They made it easy, fast, were easy to talk to and contact and returned calls…read morewith no problem. After we made our decisions we had a few changes and they made it simple to adjust. Hope I never have to use them again, wink, but if we do need those services again, we will definitely use Scanlin again.

Good service at a reasonable price. Everything was done exactly as I requested. All the staff were…read morepolite, helpful, and compassionate.