First off, I question the ethics of a funeral home being owned and run by the sitting mayor of the…read morecity. When I was notified of my mother's body being found, someone from Whitfield had already collected her body before I was even formally notified by police of her death. According to people who work in the senior housing facility where my mother lived, this is not an uncommon occurrence. It seems that Mr. Whitfield does ineed use his position as mayor to position his business in a way that is clearly a conflict of interest. That aside, I would like to share my experience with the business as a customer. I dealt with Mr. Whitfield directly, and I can't say it was a positive experience in any way. I understand that we all deal with death differently, but I didn't feel any empathy from this man at all. It was all business with him. At one point, he even referred to "your father" even though it was my mother's body. That lack of attention to detail bothered me. Dealing with them was this agonizing game of phone tag where I ultimately had to get a lawyer involved in order to get my mother's ashes back from them in anything approaching a timely fashion. It took almost three weeks! Almost made the memorial service late. And when I went to pick up her ashes, they had made a mistake on the paperwork that I needed to sign for pickup. Also, a complete lack of sympathy or empathy from them at the time. I cannot recommend against them strongly enough. Learn from my experience, and go somewhere else. Anywhere.

Nice place, great services. My whole family went thru this funeral home.read more

Shae and Bill took very very good care of everything! Shae took me by the hand at every step! Bill…read moreeven reached out afterwards to see how my family was doing! A heartfelt thank you to Shae Bill and the staff!

I had a great experience with setting up my future burial arrangements wit Kirk Maclin. He sent me…read moreall the information to make my decisions for me and my wife for when the time comes. Kirk answered all my questions and took the time to walk me through all the details so I could make the decision on the options I wanted. Prices were good and this took a lot off my mind so my wife and children did not have to deal with this in the future. Definitely would recommend asking for Kirk. Michael

The owners and family of Seigler Funeral home were very supportive, kind, and extremely caring to…read moremy friend Esteban Santos Jr. They were very attentive, knowledgeable and helpful during the shocking death of his father. Thank you, you will forever be in our hearts. God Bless

What things aren't permitted y to be left at a loved ones grave? It seems as tho everything I leave…read morethere is gone when I return

The oldest cemetery in Bartow is Pioneer Oak Hill. It was not on city property and could not be…read moreenlarged because it was too close to downtown so in 1890 the citizens of Bartow made a deal to pay Thomas Pasco Carpenter $1.500.00 to purchase ten acres of land in order to create a city cemetery. It is believed that part of the land was already being used as an unofficial cemetery. The oldest burial may be that of John W. Towles who died in 1875. Pioneer Oak Hill only has Confederate Civil War dead but Wildwood contains people from both sides of the conflict. In the 1900's the cemetery was expanded to 40 acres. Burial of Black citizens in Wildwood began in 1975 and in 1984 the city redesigned and refurbished the cemetery grounds. This cemetery is most infamous for being the final resting place of Charlie Smith, "America's Oldest Man". According to his gravestone he was 137 years old when he died! Charlie recounted his life story during a 1978 episode of the television series Visions, titled "Charlie Smith and the Fritter Tree," According to Charlie he was born in Liberia in 1842, and at the age of 12 he was kidnapped by someone who convinced him that in America fritters grow on trees. After arriving in the United States he was sold into slavery to a Texas farmer who purchased him and named him Charlie Smith. The farmer treated him like a son and upon his death Charlie took his surname. Further adventures ensued when he joined the Union army, moved out West where he worked as a ranch hand, became a professional gambler, ran with the James Gang when they were chasing Billy the Kid, raised a family and ended up as a circus sideshow attraction. The records that have been discovered pertaining to Charlie Smith make it more likely that he was 105 when he died but don't let the truth get in the way of a good story. You can pay Charlie a visit in row 28 near the wall.

I haven't been able to find out much about Fitzgerald Cemetery, other than it (and the street it's…read moreon) was named after the homesteader who sold the property the land it is located on for $10, a good deal back in the day. From pictures I've seen online, it was taken very good care of 20 years ago, but now it's become quite overgrown and I believe the groundskeepers are having a hard time keeping up. Many graves are overgrown, some completely to the point of being covered by their plants. Some graves are collapsing, a sad result of time. Garbage is found around the edges of the cemetery and from the weather wear, some has been there for quite some time. It's a beautiful place, with a lot of history. I just wish it was taken care of a bit better.

There is peace here for your loved ones. There are abundance of trees for shade, and I quiet. It…read moreis serene.

These people were very kind and patient. I have to type 85…read morecharacters but have nothing else to say.

They were compassionate and caring during a very difficult loss for our family. The makeup artist…read moredid a wonderful job.

3 days ago Blane was the Director for my Father in laws…read morefuneral he was so compassionate friendly and very attentive to our needs. thank you so much for the beautiful service

We used gentry Morrisons last week for my Dad they are the greatest at making the arraignments and…read moremaking you feel at ease . Thank you Blane and staff for all that you do.

This is a lovely old cemetery hidden deep in the heart of Mulberry, FL, south of Lakeland. Like…read moremany old cemeteries, it has its troubles and they are trying to fix them. When I went to find it, I was searching for a Prairie Cemetery or a Bone Valley Cemetery; people call it many things. When I arrived, I found a brand new sign with the name "Laurel Hill Cemetery" and "No Trespassing" signs everywhere. I even saw a sign stating there was a security camera. Since part of this cemetery bordered on a neighborhood, I decided not to take any chances and called the first phone number on the sign. I spoke to a pleasant lady at the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, who owns and cares for this particular cemetery. Yes, it WAS called Prairie Cemetery at one time and is now Laurel Hill Cemetery. I explained to her that I liked going to very old cemeteries and photographing headstones, etc., and I would like to have permission to walk about this cemetery. She was a bit hesitant but said yes. Fifteen minutes later, the caretaker showed up to further investigate me. He was very personable and actually had family buried there himself. He told me that because of the out of the way nature of the place, they had an issue with garbage dumping and other more unsavory things going on there. They are trying to keep control of the yard work there, but being Florida's wild and crazy flora and all, it's difficult to find volunteers these days to devote their time on things like this. This particular cemetery is quite gorgeous. It was, and perhaps still is, primarily African American. Records fluctuate on times of use, but the belief is this place has been used for burial for at least a hundred years, perhaps longer. Different areas appear to be clustered in different burial eras. The farthest away is the most new. I just took a quick look at that, mostly family groups. Many of the older headstones are handmade. Touching and quite lovely, some you can still see the handwriting and others are eroding away with time. (Sadly, the landscape has swallowed up an older section or two that needs to be pruned very soon or lost.) I have a feeling there are many more graves there than are marked. Many. It is so quiet out there. You'd never know you were next to a neighborhood, by a water treatment plant, a rail yard, a highway, etc. The breeze was blowing, the birds were singing, the butterflies were fluttering.