Wilson-Orwosky Funeral Home

They handled my uncles funeral in a professional manner. Fair. Explained things well to elderly aunt

The Wilson Orwosky Funeral Home advertises that it serves the Emory area. Apparently that means only the persons living in the immediate Emory vicinity! My wife and I are some of the out-​of-​town family members of an Emory area man who pre-​paid his funeral expenses, intending for all three of his children and their families to be at his funeral services. When he died, only the local family members were allowed access to the decision making. The needs of those grieving relatives who were not local were ignored in favor of the preferences of the local family. Even leaving our mobile numbers with the director did not result in any calls by the director to check on scheduling decisions or to assist with the two children’s family’s unique needs as persons traveling a great distance with babies and teenaged children. When the hearse and all the staff left the funeral home, grieving family members still in the building were told by the funeral director, «You’re on your own!» The most egregious example was when the funeral director ordered that the out-​of-​town interment service (seventy-​minute drive under ideal conditions) had to commence, even after she had been told by some of the young-​adult family members who were present that the out-​of-​town travelers were going to be arriving in only five more minutes! Their pleas were ignored. The fact that some of these mourners had traveled over twenty-​three-​hundred miles to be present for the playing of taps to honor this WWII veteran was not considered. The director had specifically told me (at an earlier funeral in May) that she would hold the service at the grave past the appointed time to allow family members time to get some food, if necessary. In our three-​car caravan, we had two nursing mothers and a baby who needed a diaper changed, and a diabetic who has to eat something at regular intervals. But somehow, the needs of some sixty-​something adults (all locals) took precedence over the needs of these travelers. One of the travelers (who was delayed by traffic and these nutrition and care needs of certain family members) was one of the six pall bearers: a fine teenaged young man who was denied the privilege and right to bear his grandfather’s casket to the grave! There was no excuse for this insensitivity, since the military representatives who had gathered to fold the flag were all professional military or veterans who would be accustomed to delays caused by the needs of grieving family members. As an ordained minister with thirty-​nine years of experience conducting funerals, I have never seen such appalling insensitivity to the pain of two grieving children and their families. Use care if you choose Wilson-​Orwosky, as they sound fine until you need something out-​of-​the-​ordinary, like grief support. We were gravely disappointed.