Heffner Funeral Chapels & Crematory

June 2, Dear *** ***,
I am responding to your letter dated May 27th (copy enclosed for your convenient reference)For confidentiality I will not disclose the name of the deceased, nor names of the customer nor the name or the legal next of kin, NONE of whom are the party
filing the complaint nor the family members referenced in the complaint filed with Revdex.comHere are the sad facts about this circumstance.The deceased had made a very specific contractual prearrangement for himself and he did this in the presence of his wife of years and a trusted stepsonHis adult children referenced in the complaint are from a prior marriage and he intentionally did NOT involve them in his preplanningAlthough the widow would normally be the legal next of kin, in this case as part of the preplanning, the deceased executed an allegation of contrary intent appointing someone other than his wife to serve as his legal next of kin for the purposes of his dispositionThis deliberate act was to insure that his wishes would indeed be honored while also creating for his widow a buffer from the insensitive pressures from othersUpon his passing, we fulfilled his contracted, very specific instructions for which we were subsequently criticized by other relatives who were NOT our customer and NONE OF WHOM were the legal next of kinI have also enclosed my April 17th response to the party who filed the complaint with youHowever the name of the deceased has been redactedIt is always sad to witness family discourse and that is exactly the situationIn some cases there is no solutionI am sorry that the Revdex.com or any party for that matter would be caught in the middle but we stood by our commitments to the deceased and the legal next of kin as we promised

Review: My uncle recently passed away and his viewing was held at Heffner Funeral Chapel in [redacted], PA. His daughters, my sisters, and myself were horrified to see him laid out in a cardboard box held together with zip ties! I understand his wife and stepchildren made the arrangements and they did state that this was his wish. My complaint was that as professionals they should have at least informed the family that they would place a drape or bunting around him so it would be more respectful. There's nothing quite like the flag draped over a cardboard box to shock you. I contacted Heffners through their website the day after the viewing. I just received a response today and was shocked at the content. Since he sent it as a PDF attachment I am unable to copy it here, but I will be printing it and sending a hard copy.Desired Settlement: I would like an apology. I also want the Revdex.com to know about the business practices of Heffners so that others might avoid the same situation.

Business

Response:

June 2, 2014Dear [redacted],I am responding to your letter dated May 27th (copy enclosed for your convenient reference). For confidentiality I will not disclose the name of the deceased, nor names of the customer nor the name or the legal next of kin, NONE of whom are the party filing the complaint nor the family members referenced in the complaint filed with Revdex.com. Here are the sad facts about this circumstance.The deceased had made a very specific contractual prearrangement for himself and he did this in the presence of his wife of 27 years and a trusted stepson.His adult children referenced in the complaint are from a prior marriage and he intentionally did NOT involve them in his preplanning.Although the widow would normally be the legal next of kin, in this case as part of the preplanning, the deceased executed an allegation of contrary intent appointing someone other than his wife to serve as his legal next of kin for the purposes of his disposition. This deliberate act was to insure that his wishes would indeed be honored while also creating for his widow a buffer from the insensitive pressures from others.Upon his passing, we fulfilled his contracted, very specific instructions for which we were subsequently criticized by other relatives who were NOT our customer and NONE OF WHOM were the legal next of kin.I have also enclosed my April 17th response to the party who filed the complaint with you. However the name of the deceased has been redacted.It is always sad to witness family discourse and that is exactly the situation. In some cases there is no solution. I am sorry that the Revdex.com or any party for that matter would be caught in the middle but we stood by our commitments to the deceased and the legal next of kin as we promised.