Funeral Information

1123 Sutter Street
San Francisco, California 94109
(415) 673-3000 (800) 673-3005
License # FD334

Throughout history, civilized society has marked special times in life with ceremony: baptisms, graduations, anniversaries and marriages are shared with those we love because this sharing brings joy and happiness to the celebration. Likewise, when a life comes to an end, it is our instinct to share the loss with those we love, and with those who love us. A funeral service is a celebration of a life lived, especially when it reflects the unique life and personality of the departed. It offers the time and place to gather, and grieve, and share.

The funeral buffers the pain of loss with the support and comfort of the presence of family and friends who also grieve...and also care.

A funeral director is a professional person you can rely on for caring guidance in arranging a meaningful and comforting funeral service. We are thoroughly experienced in managing funerals of all religious denominations, cultural traditions and fraternal organizations. If your desire is to plan and coordinate a memorial service at a location other than a funeral home without involving us, we are happy to provide information and ideas which may be helpful to you, in addition to handling details for direct burials, cremations, and preparation and transportation of the deceased in or out of the state or country.

Our primary purpose at Halsted N. Gray - Carew & English is to coordinate and manage all the arrangement details for you in such a way that all are brought together to provide a service which is meaningful, dignified and perfect in every regard.

In the paragraphs that follow, we have placed together certain information that we feel may be helpful to you .

What to do when a death occurs:

We strongly encourage you to call the funeral home before doing anything else. You may have an idea of when and what type of service you desire before you call and your funeral director can advise you at that time, what you can reasonably expect in terms of facilities availability, time schedules, etc.

The funeral director will be immediately attending to items such as arranging transportation of the deceased back to the funeral home, checking facilities availability, making an appointment with the physician for completion of the death certificate and contacting person(s) who will officiate at the service, so that you can begin contacting family and friends who can then begin making necessary work schedule and travel arrangements.

Suffice to say that there is a multitude of details which must be attended to in a certain order and within a specific time-frame so that a funeral service and interment can take place in a smooth, timely fashion.     One of your funeral director's roles is to quietly ensure that all these details are handled for you so that your concentration can be focused on family and friends, and getting through this difficult transition period.

The Arrangement Conference:

Your funeral director will set a time which is convenient for you to come to the funeral home and finalize all the necessary arrangements. This conference will include but not be necessarily limited to:

Providing a copy of the funeral home's general and casket pricelists.

Collecting Vital Statistical Information for the Certificate of Death
You will be asked questions such as, decedent's date of birth, social security number, place of birth, occupation, employer, number of years in occupation, number of years of education, decedent's father's and mother's names (mother's maiden name), and their states or countries of birth, the decedent's address and the number of years he/she lived in the county of death. You will probably need some certified copies of this document to transact legal business surrounding the transfer of properties, insurance, filing for social security benefits etc. Your funeral director can obtain these for you through the health department in the country where the death has occurred. Most of the county registrars in California are currently charging from $12.00 to $15.00 each for these true certified copies of the original.

Preparing the News Notice
Collecting names of surviving relatives, biographical information, listing of charitable organizations for memorial contributions, etc.

Selecting Service Options
Discussing items such as preparation of the deceased, printed materials for the service, transportation for family, pallbearers, flowers, service officiant, time and place of service, making appointment with cemetery (if necessary), type of service, i.e., mortuary chapel, church, graveside, immediate burial/cremation, etc.

Selecting Casket or Alternative Container as Applicable.
Halsted N. Gray - Carew & English offers several caskets and alternative containers (displayed in the funeral home) for your consideration. There is never any pressure placed on you to select a particular casket. Your selection needs to be based on your own personal desires and tastes. So that you may make a fully informed decision, a complete explanation of the differences among caskets, along with a copy of our casket pricelist will be furnished to you before you go into the selection room area.

Finalizing all paperwork.
Finalizing the arrangements includes going over all these items with you one last time, making sure that all your questions have been answered, and completing the legal documents.

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