My previous reviews of Chiacchio Southview (and other reviews I've written for other businesses)…read moreseem to have been detached from my account. Maybe my absence for some time did that. In any case, I've been to several funerals here and it's a great inner-city funeral home. The building has style and substance, and it just feels more personal than other homes I've been in. Most seem so sterile and bland, it feels like you're at a funeral. Here, it's still sad that you're saying goodbye, but it feels more personal. The staff is extremely accommodating and friendly. I don't know what else to say. It's been a good experience (as good as it can be considering it's a funeral) all around.

During a very unexpected and difficult time for my family, David and Rhonda came into our lives…read morewith such compassion and grace. They brought kind words and actions with them. It is a terrible situation for anyone to go through and I am sorry you are reading reviews....it means you too are suffering a loss. I can assure you Chiacchio Southview will respect your loved one and your wishes, they will treat you honestly and with dignity. I want David and Rhonda to know that we appreciated how you made this process just a bit easier, thank you both. Best wishes for the New Year.

My father passed in 2010, and his services were handled by Peppler Funeral Home in Bordentown, New…read moreJersey. The Peppler family took a very difficult time and made it as painless as possible. My Father was cremated, and through a strained familial relationship, I was under the impression his cremains were collected soon after by another family member. Many years later, I learned no one had collected his remains. Now in 2025, and being fairly certain it was a fruitless call, but desperately trying to correct for my great failure, I contacted Peppler to see if they could at least point me in the direction of where my fathers remains may have ultimately been placed. To my great shock and greater relief, his cremains were still in the possession of the home; 15 years later! Their kindness and dedication carried forward into coordinating the quick shipping of my Father's cremains to me in Florida where my family now lives. There aren't words that can truly describe my deep appreciation for the service Peppler Funeral Home of Bordentown provided to my family. They are incredible people doing a difficult job, with a level of compassion and integrity, rarely seen today. Thank you.

We visited the cemetery a number of times over the last few years because we were told by family…read moremembers that my wife's father, who is buried there also owned other burial plots in Greenwood Cemetery. On our previous visits we spoke with multiple staff members who indicated that because of the time that had passed they would have to research the issue and get back to us. It appears that due to staff turn over we were not provided with the requested information. In our attempts to settle the estate of the person who would be the owner of any burial plots if there were any, we again contacted the cemetery and this time we were spoke with Andrea Harvey who was very receptive to our need to resolve this matter. After checking the files she indicated that there were no other records indicating that he owned other burial sites at the cemetery, but she would continue to research the matter. A few days passed and we received a call that she had located additional information and there was in fact additional burial sites. I don't know how often this issue occurs and it is probably easier to just say, "that's what the records say", but Andrea went the extra mile and determined that our family members were in fact correct. She should be commended for her efforts to effectively resolve our long standing questions. David L.

During this difficult time, we could not have asked for better service. Scott made everything…read moreperfect and could not do enough to help. His kindness, patience and compassion made this process more bearable. No request was too much . Scott did everything my niece asked immediately and without hesitation. Thank you

I really don't know where to start. From preplanning until we laid my mother to rest. Jude was an…read moreamazing help with EVERYTHING to make this time easier. Both Toni & Jude work together in a professional caring matter. Always picked up the phone & gave me as much time as I needed. Helped with every change I made until the last moment & accommodated no matter how big or small down to the very last detail. This is not an easy time for anyone, however they took the pressure off to make it perfect start to finish. My Sincere Thanks Sharyn Kerins

Both of my parents were buried from Gruerio Funeral Home. Toni and Jude are just wonderful. They…read moreare caring and very professional. They deserve more than a five star rating!

Michael S left a bad review on here & I am completely appalled & embarrassed! What he said couldn't…read morebe further from the truth. I am the daughter of the deceased who Chris from Buklad handled. Chris & his staff were to say the least professional, warm & accommodating. My mother's funeral was absolutely beautiful from the moment we walked in until leaving the cemetery. We have been using Buklad for generations.

We have used this funeral home before ... (My cheap brother's decision).....against my better…read morejudgment for both my mother and father. Both of these services were quite tacky. Yesterday we buried an aunt ...it seemed as though everything was in order until we got to the cemetery. I was a pallbearer and noticed that the casket was not shut properly as we carried it to he final resting area in the cemetery..... I will then mentioned this to the man in charge who happened to be Chris Merlino and he was offended by me noticing this and said the seal was broken. Is that OK with you? Although I said yes, I'm sure he could tell by my body language that it was not OK with this..... His attitude of anger and resentment, because I noticed this flaw was echoed in his response !! I did not mention it to my cousins or anyone else, but this man and this funeral home.... Had sold my cousins, a defective coffin and he was offended that I had noticed it !! He did not have time to premeditate his immediate action, or the way he handled it, but I know that he had sold a defective coffin that would not seal properly... because the seal was broken and hoped no one would notice it because it was going into a concrete box and then going to be buried anyway I would never use this funeral home and already instructed my family that when my time arrives do not use this unprofessional tacky funeral home for my services !! Also, the little priest that he uses all the time I have seen him before he reminds me of Otis from the Andy Griffith show, and although his words inside, the funeral parlor were kind, and he looked halfway presentable. This was not the fact at the cemetery in the bright sunshine, you could tell that he was wearing yellowed clothing that looked like it had been washed with brown pants in a washer. He was so disheveled and frankly, an embarrassment my family and the funeral home ...../I have a very keen on me for perfection being a perfectionist and a man that had ran a limousine service for many many years and also did much funeral work .... including pick ups for Tony Moro....is why I noticed every detail but by noticing the detail, I angered Chris Merlino, and I did not appreciate his response. Therefore, to sum it all up, find a more professional and compassionate funeral home, and hopefully the little priest will be able to put some of his savings into buying proper clothing to wear, especially in the bright sunshine, where you could tell it looked like ... his clothing representing the Lord came from the Salvation Army !!! I would say to sum it up ....it was a tacky unprofessional money grab !! !!

I would like to say this business is by far one of the most professional businesses I have ever…read moredealt with. I knew the business as Buklad Memorial but it is now called Buklad-Merlino Memorial. Chris Merlino was so wonderful in helping plan our recent funeral. He took care of every detail to make our experience as worry free as possible. Both of their facilities are beautiful and the Yardville facility is newly decorated. Chris was wonderful in offering advice for local vendors. Being from out of state, it was a painless experience working with Chris and staff and I would highly recommend their service.

This was not my first experience with this funeral service. I'm hard pressed to remember the exact…read morenumber of times I've been here, but can you assure you it includes the services of both of my parents and most of my deceased relatives. I wanted to use them a few years ago for another relative, but was unable to contact. My previous experiences were of the 4 star and higher range, hence this was my families preferred undertaker for many good reasons. Perhaps the first being its proximity to Holy Cross church, about a block away. The second reason being this was a true family business, the Winowiczs knew my family members from the area and the church. Real compassion and caring were evident, and if I recall, final payments were always delayed for as long as our family needed. When I paid for my dads services, it was almost an insult to Stanley W that I paid in advance. Times change, and Stanley is still around but does not really involve himself in the business ( he's probably mid to late 80's himself) So although it was a familiar setting that has always been professional and comfortable, the staff were strangers to my family. I'm not sure why, but there was no church service. I know my uncle would have wanted there to be one. Also the priest who did the service was cold and formal with no mention of my incredible and very devout Catholic uncle. I don't think he even mentioned his name. I'm not sure what really constitutes a 4 star experience for a business such as this, but I know I did not have one. Rest in peace uncle Stanley......

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.