Pacific Interment Mortuary & Crematorium

They eased me through the process, and made me feel confident they not only knew what they were doing, but additionally had my best interests at heart. I appreciated their help.

Fantastic service !! I am really impressed with the staff and service that Pacific Internment provided. My mother lost her battle with cancer. We shopped for a mortuary service that would NOT try to make a huge profit on our loss. The prices we found from other providers were staggeringly high and we were told several outright right lies by some (I.E. «Embalming is required by law”— IT IS NOT,). When we called Pacific, we were gently treated with respect, and NOT UP-​SOLD !! We got exactly what we asked for. My mother was a simple person and would have loved the mini-​van instead of a hearse. We were provided excellent service and given a really good price for a great service. !! I am going to recommend to all of my friends and relatives. Thanks for a wonderful service during a trying time.

They were pleasant enough and respectful. I wish they had been faster about getting the paperwork done so I could pick up the ashes. My biggest complaint is that I knew the VA provided one free copy of the death certificate. However, when they asked me how many copies I wanted I asked for the free one for veterans and they said there was no free one. Since I needed at least one, I agreed to be charged for ONE. When I picked up the certificate, they gave me TWO and said there was a free one from the VA! So, they wasted my money. I paid for one and got a second one I don’t need. They either don’t have enough experience to know about the free VA one or are just not good with details. I complained but they did not offer to reimburse me and questioned whether I asked about it in the first place.

Kindest people. Very good value. Professional, but with a caring heart. My family experienced a unforeseen tragic passing of a loved one. They took on all the logistics part of it, removing the stress from that part of laying someone down to rest. It allowed us to continue focusing on just grieving. Bless my heart, that they were part of my journey during this unfortunate event in family’s life.

Pacific Interment Service made it so much easier for me when I had to make funeral arrangements while I was out of town on a business trip. I was so dreading doing it over the phone but the staff in Emeryville assured me that everything would be fine and that they would begin the procedure of burying my uncle. It wasn’t until I returned to SF and put faces to the names I had spoken to several times on the phone did I realize how lucky I was to have chosen their service. They were professional, courteous, and during the actual memorial service very solicitous of our party. Several guests commented that my uncle would have liked it. What more could I ask?

My sister died unexpectedly and I live a long way away from her. I had to fly to San Francisco to take care of everything while dealing with the shock and the overwhelming task of taking care of someone’s life, possessions and fnal needs. There were several things that happened that were very difficult just from people that seemed to care less about what I needed to accomplish everything in a week’s time. However, the shining star in all of that 7 days was Zia, the individual that helped me handle all the emotional and wearing decisions quickly and with great care. She not only went the extra mile, even after it was all done and I am back home dealing with paperwork and more, Zia has been a resource to help me get it done and quickly. She has helped with things that are far from her job description and with the kindness and compassion of a family member. If you are shopping around and looking for the right company to provide the care, emotional support and concern to help you handle all that you need to handle during a very difficult time, contact this company and ask for Zia. You won’t be disappointed and you will feel like they took care of you like family. I am so glad we didn’t choose another company. Big thank you to Pacific and to Zia.

My sister passed away suddenly a few weeks ago and we were completely unprepared. We were told about Pacific Interment by a distant relative who had worked with them recently as well. From the moment I called and spoke with Mike, I felt like we were in good hands. I called him twice to ask questions without committing to making an appointment or anything and he just answered them without any pressure. When we met with him and decided to work with them he was very flexible and accommodating. He offered to take our payment for her autopsy to the coroner’s office so we would not have to make an extra trip and was very professional and understanding when our quick view ended up being longer and larger than we agreed.
Sometimes when you pay someone in full for services they will provide later, it becomes a bit more difficult to contact them, get updates and get timely service but even now, 3 weeks later, Mike has called on his own to update my brother-​in-​law on the status of her remains and took the initiative to work with the Coroner to obtain information we needed in order to file the death certificate. He did that AND called to inform us without us asking or calling him for a status update at all. He even mentioned the possibility of contacting Social Security Administration to inquire about survivor benefits for my nephew and brother-​in-​law.
During times like this, at the end of the day, the companies that rise to the top for me are those that understand and know how to navigate around grieving people who often don’t know what to do and who go the extra mile to alleviate stress by assisting in taking on what they can so that the family does not have to (drive around the city to pay for and apply for different things). That type of service is worth paying more for but in this case, that was not necessary. The prices appeared to be very reasonable and were comparable to another place we considered that I know in my gut I would have had problems with. I felt taken care of and that Mike has been a one-​stop shop resource.
When faced with this inevitable circumstance again, I am relieved to know that next time I won’t need to do research or ask for referrals because they have earned my business and continued support (through referrals).

We lost our newborn daughter in the NICU at Kaiser Oakland. The hospital contracts with Pacific Interment Mortuary to handle cremations. My wife and her mom called to see about the disposition of her body, and were rudely treated when asking about the timeline for cremation and why the hospital hadn’t released our daughter. Among the things said was that «it was being done at a discount».
My wife called me, crying. We made arrangements for another mortuary to take care of our baby.

Very impressed with their service. My mother picked out this place because it was the least expensive, a nod to her sensiblly thrifty depression scars. Finally, the day came, and we needed their service of direct cremation. When we drove down there, for the first time, to sign papers I was comforted by the clean design and order of the place… almost like a Japanese garden at the entrance, and a very clear and clutter free open office space in which to complete the paperwork. The fellow who helped us was great, really great. Kind, clear, concise, answered my same questions patiently. And when I opened their brochure, I was glad to see it was a place the grande dame, Jessica Mitford, recommended.

My husband wanted to be cremated after his death while I wanted to avoid enbalming with its chemicals and harm to the environment. Having heard of people facing pressure to pull together the cash for services at a vulnerable time, it was a great relief to have my credit card accepted.
The staff who came to take his remains were respectful and appropriately somber. They asked for permission to carry him in a sheet (due to many steep stairs). They opened the sheet to let me kiss him goodbye.
The open-​coffin service was just exactly what I wanted. The external (rented) coffin was beautiful. The room was orange, and that worked perfectly. The color created a sense of warmth. They had a podium for speakers, an easel to hold a photo, an array of containers for the ashes purchased beforehand, and, as Derek said, they always knew my husband’s name.
The staff often work in shirt-​sleeves and that works well for people who want a less formal atmosphere. On funeral day they wore suits. The $ 35 «In Memory» sign-​in book is lovely and they handled that and directed funeral attendees including a very late family. They had a CD player with pre-​recorded music and were fine with my using my own CD, even coming to start the music at the appropriate time. Jessica Mitford chose them for her cremation and it was clear at every step that they were not going to rip off a very vulnerable new widow. (In contrast to a well-​known chain that insisted CA law requires enbalming, I might add). It does not. I read the law online.
They were prepared to offer some security-​like services if two very disturbed people arrived to cause a scene. Fortunately we didn’t need that, but really, how often is there reasonably affordable but respectful and respectable funeral services? They knew what VA wants as well, so that helped meet my husband’s wishes and eased my process in grief.
They are not open on weekends and can be hard to find though they give excellent directions. It’s worth the quest to find them. They are gems.
I pre-​paid for my own cremation being so pleased with their ethics and service plus price. My daughter was concerned about being able to dance at my funeral since I’m Wiccan and dance is sacred and central to me and my funeral will include a dance around a palm tree in the court yard. How cool is that?

Very pleased with their professionalism. Never a good time to need their services but glad they are there. When my father called on an update about our loved one they knew exactly who he was.