We met with Carmen Spezzi's for my father's arrangements and the experience was wonderful given the…read morecircumstances. Carmen was very patient, kind, understanding and informative to everything we wanted for my father's viewing. The services were exactly how we requested, providing comfort that our dad's wishes were honored. Thank you to the Spezzi family for everything!

When my 99 year old father passed on 12/20/20, we had no doubt that all arrangements would be…read morehandled professionally, perfectly, and in the most supportive way possible. Moira was always available with answers to my many questions, and of particular note is that we were working totally remotely, since I live out of state. Her flexibility in arrangements for a service on site, and burial service were exactly what we needed -- and I'm sure were appreciated by my dad! Family who attended, and many who were on the live stream, made special mention of the highly personal and professional approach that was taken at each moment. Carmen and Megan were also very helpful along the way. Thank you Spezzi family for making a very sad and difficult situation so effortless and and personal. God Bless and Have a wonderful new year. You are the best!

Robert and his staff at the Evergreen Memorial Funeral Home did an exceptional job with my…read moregrandmother's funeral this past weekend. After visiting three other funeral homes, we were sold on the professionalism of Robert and his willingness to provide us with the most honorable and respectful service. Facilities: Although we did not have a viewing at the funeral home, I would highly suggest that you consider Evergreen as one of your top choices when considering funeral pre-planning. Once you enter into the clean and modern facility, you will be in awe at the attention to detail that the facility has. There are no stairs and there is plenty of parking. A picture of Robert's late father adorns the foyer. Respect towards family is evident from the first moment you enter Evergreen. Shop around and you will see what I mean with the quality of the facilities. Staff: Robert and his staff are all highly professional in the manner in which they prepared our grandmother, all the way through the ceremony at the cemetery. Robert does the embalming for the facility, for which he did an excellent job. Communication: Every time we tried to meet with Robert to finalize the details of the funeral, he was readily available at OUR leisure. I think this is a very important trait as a funeral home, as we were out running errands in preparation for the burial and did not think to make appointments. In short, whenever we were ready, he was ready. Robert was in contact with our parish priest and was early in arriving to the church for the funeral ceremony. Cost: Even though the facility is barely 5 years old, the final cost of the services rendered by Evergreen were extremely competitive with the three other funeral homes that we visited. Overall: Robert did everything in his power to ensure that our grandmother was given a respectful and honorable funeral. We thank Robert and wish him continued success.

If you're looking for a funereal Home for a love one; this would be the place. Robert (the funeral…read moredirector)is very understanding and will go over and beyond to make it less stressful for the family making the funeral arrangements. My mother passed away in April (not from Coronavirus) Robert was great and so polite. He understood how difficult it was for me and my family and what I was going through. Robert made sure everything went smoothly. My mom looked beautiful the day she was laid to rest.

Called the office in the evening before the wake to get information on their space and equipment…read morebut was directed to a call center and was advised to leave a message which I didn't do so. Then tried calling the office the next morning to check on the maximum capacity of their rooms, but the staff was unable to provide proper information. On the evening of my church member's wake we had a huge turnout and the space was definitely not set up to tend to groups larger than 150 people. The MAIN downside was trying to show a DVD on the life of my church member that was deceased. The 30 inch TV was set up in the middle(waiting) room. Imagine your TV is in the living room but you're in the bedroom (this was how I felt). The guests were seated in three different rooms and the microphone system was ineffective even in the main room where the casket was placed. The set up, IMO is not up to standard to other funeral homes that I had visited in Brooklyn and Staten Island. With the cost they are charging it feels like Highway Robbery to someone whose loved one had just died, possibly going through a severe emotional downfall and is vulnerable to being taken advantage of financially. From that experience, I learned to check around for the different costs on funeral services in Brooklyn. You never know sometimes these info may come in very hand to your family or friends.

I was in the middle of a difficult situation when my 22 year old son died suddenly of heart…read morefailure. My ex showed up with 5 family members, ready to bury my son, that I raised alone- with no say of mine. I found out about it, and showed up at the Funeral home. They went out of their way to help me have a fair say- and not be outnumbered. When it became clear that I was being put under attack, the director Joanne had everyone leave the room except my ex husband and I, who then came to an agreement within 10 minutes. They were very sympathetic to my loss as well as the difficulty I was given by my ex, his new wife, and some of his family, yet very professional. During my time of weakness and vulnerability, they made sure they gave input and made compromises themselves in order to lay my son to rest peacefully. The way I was treated was far more respectful than I'd expect from even other funeral homes in my own neighborhood. RIP My son, my best friend....Joshua Avery 4/24/90-10/18.12

Dave Hernandez has been a true encouragement to many people we have directed to them. Not only has…read moretheir over the top wonderful service been extended to many who were in dire straits but even during this Corona Virus pandemic they have personally taken care of us in every degree in the passing of our son. Their flexibility to provide services there at their location or working with local churches has been over the top. Thank you from our hearts!!!

Unfortunately, my mom passed away recently. She was sick for the past few months and therefore, I…read moredid a ton of research beforehand on funeral homes in New Jersey to find the best price. The best price I got was for the Old Bridge Funeral Home so that's who we went with. They were great, very kind and were able to answer of all questions. I appreciate them and all of their assistance. For anyone who's reading this, if you are able to do research beforehand, make sure you get everything in writing. I made sure to do this with every funeral home and when I eventually picked this place, the price they told me was significantly higher than I was originally quoted in writing. I explained this to the staff and they realized I was correct and they fixed the price for me.

I am posting this so that perhaps cemetery management makes the necessary changes. On 10/26/23 my…read moremother passed away and on 10/30/23 she was laid to rest in the grave that my father was laid to rest back in 1999 at Holy Cross Cemetery. My sister contacted the Cemetery to have Christmas wreaths placed at the grave of our parents and another one at our nephews grave also located at Holy Cross Cemetery. On Saturday 12/23/23 my sister and her daughter when to the cemetery. When they got to the grave of our parents the wreath was place on the decaying flowers that were never cleaned up since my mother was laid to rest two months ago. When they went to the grave of our nephew there was no wreath. The cost to have the cemetery place a wreath is $55.00 / wreath. My sister emailed the cemetery because the office on the cemetery grounds was closed on Saturday 12/23/23. Naturally, there was no response on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day but, you would expect a response on Tuesday 12/26/23. The Cemetery never responded. My sister call the Cemetery and a woman answered. My sister explained that the wreath placed at our parents grave was laid on top of dead flowers. She told my sister that they only clean twice a year and because my mother passed at the end of October the next cleaning is May. She also explained to my sister that the family should clean the dead flowers between cemetery cleanups. Then my sister explained that there was no wreath placed at our nephews grave. My sister was told that that was an oversight and they would refund $55.00. My questions: 1- If no one went to the Cemetery how would you know that the wreath you paid for wasn't provided? 2- If the family is responsible to clean up the grave sites between cemetery biannual cleanups, what's stopping me from raking the debris off my loved ones grave an onto someone else's grave? What's stopping me from placing the debris in a bag and taking it to the cemetery management office so they can store the debris until they do their biannual cleanup? 3- Why does the cemetery police have time to remove items from grave sites that they feel aren't appropriate? The cemetery police have time to remove Items like ballon's, teddy bear, etc. from grave sites but, they don't have time to clean dead flowers? I included a picture of the $55,00 wreath that the cemetery placed at our parents grave just so you can see what Holy Cross Cemetery feels is acceptable.

My grandparents are buried here. I didn't know them very well. I maybe spoke to them a handful of…read moretimes as a child even though they lived nearby. They were super old and senile. The funerals were nice. But I didn't feel any grief. Their house in East Brunswick was sold. Maybe demolished. These people are gone from the Earth without a trace. I'll let you in on a secret: I fear death, and the deaths of those I love. Death is the ultimate tragedy... a life of suffering is tough, but in most cases we can make things better. Death you can't fix. I won't romanticize death or martyrdom and drape them in metaphor. Death is real, it's brutal, it's tragic. You should be sad -- you should be afraid.

During this difficult time of my life where I had to make funeral arrangements for my dad, Steve…read morewas simply wonderful. He is kind, patient, and caring. Steve was very accommodating in making the room just right for our Buddhist ceremony and he was quick to move some chairs around last minute. Steve is truly a professional who gets things done quickly and I appreciate that he was always readily available to answer my questions. Thank you Steve and the family at Higgins.

We were very impressed and pleased with the services Higgins provided for our Mother…read more(mother-in-law.) Bob is a sincere, compassionate individual. He thoroughly listened to all our requests and couldn't have written a more heartfelt obituary to honor our Mother. We cannot thank Higgins enough for the excellent attention to detail you gave to our Mothers service.

After 16 years of bringing flowers to my Father, and after a history here since 1930, to abruptly…read moredecide mourners cannot bring fresh flowers is unempethetic, rude, disrespectful... How timely to institute an artificial flowers only rule, while offering a gift shop to accommodate this. Seasonal floral arrangements available soon.... They'll be recycled I assume. It's all about $$$ Gnats? Give me a break. Have your staff deal with drying flowers or institute a 24-48 hr window-bring flowers, they will be disposed of in that time frame If I could have broken the glass, I'd have taken my father out of there today.

After my late father's surprise passing away, we were surprised by this part of the process, his…read morefinal burial place. We had the loose idea he wanted to keep it simple for his surviving family members and to be near the kids, me, so we naturally chose SHMP whose local reputation across decades is well known for reliable, respectful, and professional administration. I can after buying 2 niches (these are burial spots in a columbarium which is for urns whereas a mausoleum is for caskets), say the staff here are so totally gentle, gracious, fair, and understanding. The immense many emotions which surround the such are complex, but our initial outreach with coordinator Ennio is beyond reproach with his deep personal empathy and big heart for all patrons' human stories. Gina W. the administrator is totally on par with all the many paperwork and regulatory bits which could be a drag but she makes it all aplomb with a kind heart. The property and all its details are so thoughtfully decorated. All maintenance and facilities are so highly done as to instill high confidence. We chose the "Clearview" niches which have a clear view of the ground soutside, as the name implies. The famously beautiful views from the hills of Ridge across the Watchung Mountains towards the south and west are childhood faves for me and lifelong faves for my father so we are so totally comforted that he shall forever look out to the beloved area. It means a lot to us that the staff exhibit the care to make the view happen with perfect beauty daily. Thank you to all the staff for so much compassion and care for our father's resting place. We visit regularly to accompany him and also to enjoy his new surroundings together.

It was a bit pricey, but I received my cats ashes shortly after putting her to rest at Red Bank…read moreanimal hospital. At such a difficult time, they were considerate in sending all I needed to fill out right away and didn't make me wait anxiously to receive her remains.

The process was not easy for me as I'm sure is the case for many patrons. I am not local and worked…read morewith them long distance. There was a lot to learn regarding the process. There was some frustration, however, patience and kindness outweighed it all and the finished layout was well worth the wait and brought closure. My family and I are pleased with the finished inscription services. Laly and Andrew our heartfelt thanks for your service during this most difficult time.