Barton Family Funeral Service

First of all, I deeply feel sad for those reviewers below that had difficulty. Lord knows how difficult those times are. I have to rate them 5 stars +. I had pre arranged their services before we lost our mom and when she passed rather unexpectedly last week, a simple phone call and half hour meeting the following day laid to rest any fears that we would encounter any difficulties. As we don’t have a lot of money, I was astounded on how little the bottom price was after a viewing, DC’s, etc. The caring and sympathy was there in spades and we were never rushed at the viewing, even though there were more scheduled after ours. Thank you to the Bartons for making this experience heart felt and a wonderful impression in our hearts for mom.

I highly recommend Barton Family Funeral Service. My mother-​in-​law recently passed away and it was very much an unexpected event. What you don’t realize until you are faced with this type of situation is that once a loved one passes at a hospital they only give you 24 hours to arrange for the body to be removed from the hospital morgue. The hospital staff sends you away with a list of referred funeral homes but then you are stuck calling each one to figure out what to do next, and within 24 hours. For our family, this happened on New Year’s Eve, which added some stress of businesses being closed. Barton was my 3^rd call on the list and Steve Barton answered the phone. His phone presence was refreshing as he offered sincere condolences and patience instead of reading me a sales brochure on why his funeral services were the best. We weren’t looking for anything elaborate, no embalming, no viewing, no gravesite service, just easy and simple cremation services with a lot of compassion and honest advice. We were able to meet with Pat that afternoon at their Kirkland location and she was a delight to work with, given the circumstances. We were very sleep-​deprived and had a mix of emotions going on. She was so understanding, calm, patient, and didn’t push anything on us. She offered great advice on the process, accurate time frames of events to occur such as receiving death certificate, sending it out to us for review and approval, sending it off to the state to obtain the original and official copies, etc. She had answers for all of our questions and made us feel comfortable. We knew that they would take great care of our loved one. She had us sign the release form for permission to transport the body out of the hospital and then she sent us home with a focus on resting. We really appreciated this as she wasn’t pushy or concerned about finalizing everything on the spot, especially when we were not in a great state of mind. Over the following days, we were in contact several times with the staff at Barton and every time they gave excellent customer service. Events occurred just as Pat had lain out with regards to timing and expectations. We even had a few special family requests that the staff at Barton handled with ease. At a time like this, it is very difficult to know if you are making the right choices; yet they have to be made. I know that choosing Barton was the right choice. They are affordable, give great customer service, set realistic expectations and above all have a genuine compassion for everyone they help and for the loved ones who are passed that are in their care until the very end.

I agree with the reviewer who wrote about how easy Barton made everything for us during such a time of sadness. My mother was at nearby Evergreen Hospice and had many years ago asked that her body be donated to the UW Medical School. The staff at Evergreen recommended we identify a funeral home in case the UW couldn’t accept the donation. Thankfully, we discovered Barton and we did need to use their services after all.
Pat Barton took care of me and she was so kind and full of useful information, not only about cremation but also about Social Security, ordering the correct number of death certificates, how to handle remains during air travel and on & on. She was wonderful!
Every other family group I saw during my couple of visits looked to be very pleased with the services, many smiling through their tears as their rep comforted them. Highly recommended!

I wish I could give this place –stars.
I would never imagine in a million years that a funeral home could be so awful, so rude and so insensitive at a time when you are dealing with the sudden death of a family member. I may also file with better business bureau.
1. They were supposed to have my brother’s remains ready by 10 am Friday morning for his memorial that afternoon. I called the day before even to make sure the remains were going to be ready.
2. I arrived at 10 am. The remains were not ready. I asked when they were going to get there, they did not know as they process the remains at another location and told me to come back later. I asked when — they did not know and did not even go call someone or look. The blue angels were flying that day and there were bridge closures which made driving back and forth difficult.
3. I told them I would not leave and I would wait and to please call. I was treated rudely and waited on-​site with no information about my brother for an hour. After an hour I had to get back to get ready for the memorial. I had to hunt down the manager. At this point I told him how upset I was. He said if I wanted the ashes I could go get them myself. So I said «fine, I want the address».
4 I got in my car, drove another 45 minutes down south to pick up the remains They had not even had directions for delivery. We had sacred religious items that were supposed to be cremated with my brother for which we supplied written direction which WERE NOT FOLLOWED. I was given my brother’s remains in a plastic bag and had to drive home and relocate him myself to the urn.
NEVER USE THIS PLACE FOR ANYONE!!! It was just cruel. And FYI, I am editing myself on the entire interactions since this is Unilocal… but I am being generous in the description of how I was treated, if you can imagine.

I highly recommend Barton when you’re going through a tough time. My mother chose them right before she died, and after she passed away from home, they came and got her within an hour. They took care of everything we needed without issue. My mother didn’t want a funeral or anything fancy other than being cremated, but they handled it all with caring and compassion. They walked my brother and I through the process and made everything very easy, which was really appreciated because it’s impossible to think after the death of a loved one.
Our rep was Lyle, who also added a little good natured humor and made us smile, which was worth a million at that time. Everyone at Barton’s will take good care of you, so whether you need them now or many years from now, they’re the people to go to.