Burkholder J S Funeral Home

Excellent service with a high level of compassion and professionalism. We had a service at the home but the burial was in connecticut. On the way, the hearse blew a tire and Matthew drove up to connecticut to pick up the coffin in a new one. The burial was slightly delayed but I think we were all impressed with their level of dedication and service. They made the whole experience as simple and as easy on us as it could be, with no hard selling as far as caskets, services, etc. I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Nobody likes to deal with funerals, and I’m no exception, but if you have not had to «do» one for a family member, I hope you’ll find this helpful, as I have had to do a few in our family.
This is probably not the cheapest funeral home in town, but I was ok with that because I wanted to go here for two reasons: I knew from earlier funerals in our family that the people here are compassionate without being oozing, and our family had used them before so it felt kind of traditional to let our family be laid to rest by the company the deceased probably expected to do the job.
This funeral home was recently bought by Trexler Funeral Home. If they had to be bought by anyone, I am glad it was not a chain. My experiences with Burkholder took place before this acquisition. I have been to Trexler funerals (which seemed just fine) but I have not planned with them, so I cannot say anything much about them or how their practices may affect Burkholder… I can only say that I hope Burkholder does not change.
In particular, we were very pleased to work with Matthew, who was properly understated but not grim or cold, and not hard sell either. He was very good about presenting options and allowing us to choose what suited our family. He and the firm went the extra mile on a few things, things too personal and identifying to go into here, but just know if they can accommodate your wishes, they will. Matthew has a gentle humor and good knowledge all around.
They were very good about advising how to handle certain sticky questions about cremation, post-​funeral luncheons, and etiquette questions too. We did learn a lot through both funerals. You are not required to use their florist or a cremation urn they provide by sale. They will help you with the obituary and can advise on costs for that depending on your newspaper. They do not provide funeral programs though they are equipped to create funeral cards at a nominal fee. If there is a veteran or Social Security benefit the deceased qualified for, they can help you file for it. Our most recent cremation service, for reference, was about $ 7000, plus our pastor’s fee.
Our family did one graveside funeral with them, and one at the church. In both cases, their personnel were there on time and appropriately welcoming to everyone. Everything went off perfectly. I hope the next time we have to plan a funeral is a long way away, but when the next one in Allentown comes, it is almost guaranteed we will count on Burkholder’s once more.