Remember man as you pass by, for as you are so once was I, but as I am you'll surely be, so prepare…read morefor death and follow me. I said so long to my mother ten months ago and to my brother yesterday, I'm not sure if this quote is written exactly, but it came to mind and continues to circle through my thoughts. My youngest brother died years ago in a car accident, my mother died due to the negligence of the hospital she was staying in from massive stage 4 and above bedsores, but this brother, "Moose" we called him, had been suffering for years from type 1 diabetes. He's had heart attacks, toes removed, just two weeks ago he had two more removed, numerous eye surgeries, but none of this takes away the shock of getting that phone call. During the wee hours on Monday morning my brother went into renal failure, but only told his wife he was tired, yet restless and just needed to lie back down, by 11:30 in the morning he had passed due to a massive heart attack where his heart had imploded. He and my sister in law were childhood sweethearts and they were also each others best friend. She was used to him sleeping most of the day, for every good day that he had, he had three or four bad ones and the good days were getting further apart. He really took my mother's death hard, he was a great son, brother and friend. The Geisel Funeral Home has been used by my sister in laws family for years and she was comforted in how they came right out to the house and actually arrived before my brother's body had been removed from their home. The next morning the funeral director met with her and arranged for his viewing, final cremation and burial. The funeral home is so large with a large memorial chapel, many sitting rooms and lounges and two parking lots, they also have a huge welcoming lounge with tables set up for food and beverages. The only downfall that I had was they are grossly understaffed, during the three hours that I was there, there was no staff member or director there to answer her questions, if someone was there they were well hidden and the office was wide open. I have never seen a town with so many funeral homes, but Geisel is who my sister in law was familiar with and trusted, they were right there for her when she needed them. My brother Moose was 55, a great guy, the funeral home was over flowing with family, friends and coworkers. His heart was as big as he was, rest in peace Moose and no more bad days...

From the owner: Over 80 Years Serving the Johnstown Area…read more The experienced funeral directors at Geisel Funeral Home will guide you through the aspects of the funeral service with compassion, dignity, and respect. Our staff of dedicated professionals is available to assist you in making funeral service arrangements. From casket choices to funeral flowers, the funeral directors at Geisel Funeral Home provide individualized funeral services designed to meet the needs of each family.

I would not recommend getting your animal cremated here. I feel as though they could have took more…read moretime and effort into their job. Especially for $400. They put the number that they gave my dog on everything. My dog was like a child to me. My dog is not a number. The paw and nose prints were barely there. Her hair was just thrown in a bag with said number on it. Do better. Really really heartbreaking. If I could go back and go to someone who really cared I would in a heartbeat.

If you have a moment check out their website as it is one beautiful place…read more http://www.hindmanfuneralhomes.com/ My Mom passed on October 5th of this year. She was one strong and independent woman who had the foresight to take care of her own cremation and burial needs. Hindman is a longtime run family business that has their own private crematory. The crematory is used only for the families they serve and they are the only area firm that can guarantee the integrity of the cremation process because your loved one never leaves their care . It's a very long story of how my mother died, but the funeral home staff was more than kind enough to issue me temporary death certificates, so that I could open the estate. We are still waiting for the autopsy results. I did have one problem with them but it could have been a mistake. My brother received a call from one of the staff members saying that the laws had changed since my mom had paid for her complete burial and the cemetery now required the urn to be placed in a vault before it was buried. When my brother Jimmy quoted me the prices of these vaults, I said give me the name and number and I will call him. I spoke with this person and he assured me that a vault was required before the urn could be buried. I asked him for the number of the cemetery, of which I called and they told me there was no such law. I called back this person and told him it will be like this; on Friday morning at 9:00 we will be present when my mothers remains are delivered to the cemetery for her burial. In a way it turned out to be a good thing, because my mom wanted no service or prior viewing, so we were able to do a little family service and burial. She did say that if we wanted a church memorial service, we could do that, of which we did. The funeral home is absolutely gorgeous, enough so that I may one day lie inside, as I do not want to be cremated! I will burn in hell as it is! Even though I live four hours away Hindman impressed me that much with their care.

Terrible. My family suffered a terrible tragedy and it was made very clear to me that all these…read morepeople at Baker-Harris wanted was money. Had I not been there when my sister passed my family would not have even been told that a viewing was an option. As a matter of a fact, when I asked about it, the owner specifically said, "that's not an option" because he needed the money up front. (which is reasonable because it is a business) but here is where I found that they truly were money hungry: the moment he told me that it wasn't an option, I said, "well I have cash," he IMMEDIATELY went out to his vehicle and got me a pamphlet of price listings. However, he told my family that we had A HALF HOUR to decide what we wanted to do with my sister who had passed away tragically not long before the conversation took place. Thank goodness I was recommended Moskal & Kennedy Funeral home by another family member. They swooped in and made an incredibly difficult situation a little easier and saved us thousands of dollars (literally) for the same services. Normally I wouldn't advertise another business like this but I genuinely felt attacked by the owners of Baker-Harris and I know that had I not been in from out of town, they would have taken advantage of my family and my sister would not have gotten the beautiful funeral that she deserved because the option would not have been given by Baker-Harris at all.

It feels a little weird or morbid to review a funeral home, but these guys did such an amazing job…read morewith my friend's mum's memorial service that I had to recognize it. The space was warm and welcoming, and they had a great display set up of photos and mementos of her mum's life. The staff was easily able to accommodate the larger-than-expected crowd that turned up for the service. But what made this such a memorable memorial service was the personalization to our loved one's life. My friend's mum was disabled, and as such, a large portion of her friends and contacts she knew via the internet. The staff at Moskal & Kennedy helped set up a Skype broadcast of the service so that her friends around the world could virtually attend. They were even able to join in and share memories and stories to our group in Johnstown from as far away as Vancouver, the UK, and California. It was unlike any memorial service I've ever attended. Most of all, I know how the staff at Moskal & Kennedy made my friend feel comforted in her time of need. And I'm grateful that they were able to put together such a beautiful send off for a wonderful person.

Honestly, 5 stars, all the way. I can not say enough about the caring nature of the staff here…read more Yes, it is a business, but they GENUINELY care about people and it shows. Thank you will never be enough for their kindness. Dan specifically handled my sister's funeral and his patience, kindness, and compassion are appreciated beyond words. Additionally, price-wise there is no competition. Thank you again to the staff at Moskal & Kennedy Funeral home you made a very difficult time, a little easier.

Very old cemetery but in a beautiful location on a hill overlooking the mountains. They were kind…read moreand accommodating for our interment request and respectful of a unique service.

I know, what am I thinking writing a review for a cemetery? Well let me tell you why I did write a…read morereview for a cemetery. This particular cemetery has historical significance for the Johnstown area. Let me get this out there before I move forward with my review. Growing up in this area you kind of grow up with a fascination with floods. How they can destroy so much in so little time and be gone shortly after that. Johnstown has been affected by several floods over time with the most memorable one being the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. This one particular flood basically leveled Johnstown and every little town upstream between the dam and the city. After all the carnage, clean up ensued. The biggest hurdle was identifying all that perished in the flood. That's where Grandview Cemetery comes into play. Grandview Cemetery is the setting for the Plot of the Unknown. This plot holds the remains of the 777 people that could not be identified. It is a simple plot with unmarked headstones in several rows, at the head of that is a statue in memorial of the fallen of that day. There are many other headstones in the cemetery of people that lost their lives that day. People that were lucky enough to have been identified on that fateful day. Other memorials are located within as well, mostly to men and women that served in the military. This is a very peaceful place just to come. While here I saw many people walking the paths or jogging. It is quite the sprawling area.

If you have never been to Johnstown, Pa. it is at the top of the Allegheny mountains with an…read moreelevation of 1273 ft. The surrounding mountain peaks are towns which all lead down into the famous valley that you have all read about. Richland is on one of these mountain tops and the town where I grew up. Well I don't know about growing up, but I spent my childhood there. I am still awed to this day that no matter where you drive in and around town the majestic mountains take your breath away. My Mom is now lying on one of the mountain peaks with these same majestic views. The cemetery is gorgeous and well maintained. My "father" lies in the veterans circle at the top of the hill. When my brother lost his life at the age of thirty two, Mom had bought a double headstone and plot. She now lies next to him and her sister and brother in law are resting not far away. My Mom lost her life due to unnatural causes and nothing had gone right since. When one is mourning and trying to make heads or tails of everything that is suddenly happening, you try to focus on the here and now. I drove by the cemetery on my way into town and noticed a small hole dug two stones over from my mothers plot. There was none dug by her tombstone. I went to her house, called the cemetery and they said they would relay my message to whomever. The day my Mom was to be buried they still planned on using this same hole. We held our little service while a truck stayed close by waiting for us to get done so they could dig the right hole for where my mother was to be buried. This was a rush around deal, my brother drove down to the office and thank heavens someone was there. We stayed around to make sure that a new hole was dug for my mom to be placed at rest, right next to my brother. As for me, I don't care, bury me in my pajamas in the back yard with my long passed on dogs and cats. As for my Mom, she needed to have her final wishes obeyed. Imagine the horror of the folks who owned the plots where my Mom would have been buried! It is still a beautiful cemetery with gorgeous grounds and Mausoleums.

Just because you have so many of the area's population that own lots in the cemetery and even more…read morethat will purchase there because their relatives are there doesn't give the office the right to disrespect customers. It's understandable that paperwork needed for burials on lots is needed. It can be time consuming for all involved. That being said, my sister had all paperwork done; paid the exorbitant fee to open the grave for a cremation burial three weeks in advance of the day scheduled; scheduled the day (and time) a week prior; and to our amazement, the hole was not dug when we arrived. We had to go to the office and Roger said he was sorry it wasn't ready. My sister and our family then had to wait for the hole to be dug. Several of us had made arrangements to take off work, leave work for a while, travel from out of the Johnstown area; and Roger just said sorry. I know that mistakes happen, but it would have been professional for Roger to come to the grave site in person and talk to my sister. I really don't think it's too much out of the realm of business to at least offer her a percentage refund apology. No way. Roger feels that since it was done on the day, that is enough. So, in essence, Roger is saying that should he decide to dig that hold at 6 pm, we would just have to wait. Shame on him. Burials are a very trying time.