Lawrence H Woodward Funeral Home

Man oh man… I have no idea what I would have done without Vickie… she made this horrible experience go very smooth. The entire staff was wonderful. I can honestly say that I am grateful for everything and how they handled things. Thank you to the entire staff.

We lost our mom November 2015. We had to get the rest of the siblings together to make arrangements. Tiffany was the director who handled our family’s many questions, requests, and concerns, even with the many changes involved. We found her to be very patient and and understanding and a total professional at all times. I would like to thank the entire staff of Woodward for the wonderful service our family received and I would recommend them to anyone.

The Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home is a pillar in the community so when my husband John passed, it was a no-​brainier for my family as to who would be handling our loved one’s funeral. I never had a loss such as this, so it was important that it was handled with care. Ms. Vicki Thompson, saw to every detail, from planning the funeral to John’s burial. I hardly felt the pain of my grief because of her adeptness in understanding pain, suffering, loss, and grief that all humans experience. When it comes to assisting the families who grieve the loss of a loving family member, trust me-​place the member in Ms. Vicki’s hands, along with her colleagues at Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home Inc., and your hearts will be at peace.

My experience with this funeral home was excellent Ms. Forman helped to. make the final goodbye of my dad comfortable and peaceful. She was through answered all questions. She was friendly, patient and kind. She felt like family.
His body was done beautifully, the obituaries, the cards all were done great. Even the limo driver Albert was great. The musician sang so well he was such a blessing.
There is not enough I could say. Everything was done well.

December 3, 2014
I just got off the phone with Shurnette of Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral home. On the week prior to Thanksgiving I received a call stating that my Mom’s death certificates had arrived. Today, a week later I decided to call and check because they have not arrived. Shurnette informed me that they were actually on her desk and had never been mailed.
My Mom was a fierce proponent of spending money in her community long before it was in style. Therefore LHW was an obvious choice for her homegoing services as she grew up around the corner.
My thoughts are that LHW is capable of doing the minimum for you and your family in your time of need. They are not capable of any kind of warmth, but they are quite capable in dressing your loved one and shipping the body. My Mom was shipped to her native North Carolina.
I asked for 30 death certificates because my Mom owns a lot of property and in settling her estate I wanted to be able to produce documents whenever asked. The woman ‘HELPING US’ told me she knows millionaires who have not needed that many. Being that I am paying for the certificates and they are not free, I am not interested in who she knows. No one has any idea the lifestyle my Mom led and I do not enjoy being mocked for any of my requests. I do understand that small business people are not required to obtain any training in customer service and are often overwhelmed. This may result in great difficulty being kind to others, even when they are fully aware that their customer is grieving.
On the evening of my Mom’s ceremony, November 13, 2014, right after my arrival we were violently accosted by an apparently mentally ill fellow about the video equipment. Turns out we made a mistake by assuming that we would use the equipment. I imagine we misunderstood, were we to bring a DVD… I actually still don’t know. The mentally ill fellow yelled at us for 7 minutes that, ‘THAT WAS NOT ALLOWED&WE DO NOT ALLOW THAT.’ I was going into shock that anyone was yelling at me as my mother lay in a casket behind me. How could that be? The only explanation is that this person is a friend of the owner and suffers from an undiagnosed or diagnosed mental illness. If Starbucks can understand and convey that they want your experience to be as pleasant as possible, surely a funeral home, whose only interaction with people is in the toughest of times, can do the same. Ultimately we were charged $ 150 for the use of LHW television. People do not enjoy feeling ripped off by nickel and dime charges that are essentially preposterous. I was not, as I imagine most customers are not, able to put up a fight… So we were ripped off. Not that big a deal, right?
The cherry on top of my deplorable experience with LHW is that now that my checks have been cashed, the little interest in my family that was shown is nonexistent. I have been informed that the death certificates that I was charged for, and chastised for requesting an amount beyond my need… were truly beyond my need… as LHW has not sent them. If you have had a death you know that you cannot even pay a bill on behalf of the deceased without a death certificate. I literally cannot even pay my Mom’s mortgage until I present her death certificate to CITIBANK and Shurnette just told me that they have forgotten to mail it for AT LEAST A WEEK!!! They did not FORGET to cash my $ 8000 check… THAT THEY DID NOT FORGET. How is this possible? THIS IS WHAT YOU DO… NO?
It really does take a lot to wow me, yet LHW has. Death, I believe everyone knows, is unpleasant. I am deeply saddened that LHW has made it more so.