Valente Marini Perata & Company Funeral Directors

We’ve used VMP three times in the last few years. They are kind, compassionate, and competitively priced. They are very knowledgeable and organized. They guided us through some tough decisions during a sad time. They are also good with large families who may take longer to come to a joint decision. God bless them for being their in our time of need.

Superb service by an incredible Manager, Heather, who I had met with, formulating my Mom’s arrangements, and she helped gave me that ease and comfort, prior to Mom’s death, handling the details, which can be a difficult time for anyone put in this position.
Heather, personally, came to our family home, at the time of Mom’s death, to exemplify the professional care and wonderful service, Valente Marina Perata, delivers… Thanks, Heather!
I will always remember and forever be grateful for all you did and continue to do.
Glad I was in the neighborhood the other day, and had the good fortune to see you again to say ‘hello,’ and thanks, again…

Valente Marini Perata and company staff was very kind, helpful and compassionate, with are families needs for my 91 year old mom. We were helped my Matt who did a terrific job with suggestions for my mom’s funeral arrangements. The cost was reasonable and the customer service was great. I highly recommend this mortuary because they accommodate all of your needs. And also my mom looked beautiful! Thank you very much Matt and their friendly staff. God Bless.

Valente Marini Perata (VMP), is still family run & operated. Thank God for that. The team of Steve, Matt, Heather, Gus and Dave are phenomenal servants of people. That’s right, they serve the peoples’ needs and they serve with honor, integrity, dignity, graciousness, patience and above all, with love.
My family has lived in the neighborhood for over 41 yrs. We’ve probably attended at 3 dozen funerals at VMP during that time. It’s the funeral home that is often utilized by the congregants of Corpus Christi Church and Church of the Epiphany because of its locale.
Morticians/​funeral directors/​undertakers are probably one of the most misunderstood line of work. The profession is also under appreciated, because it’s not a service that you use everyday. But when needed, it is required. They are on-​call 24hrs/​day-​7 days a week, they make house calls, etc. They get to see those that have passed peacefully & tragically. With that in mind, just know that they have a very defined skillset and gifting, plus the ability to empathize with people. That’s not a science, that’s an art.
My father passed this week. The team at VMP made the process so seamless. They took care of ALL of the details, big & small. My family entrusted VMP with all of the legal paperwork, flowers, coordination with the church, musicians at the funeral home, musicians at the church, synchronizing with the cemetery, and probably, the most obvious, picking up my dad’s body from the nursing facility. It’s a list of about 50 things that VMP coordinated that we never had to think about.
If you want personal care, attention to detail and incredible customer service during one of the toughest parts of life (a family death), call on Matt, Steve, Heather or Gus.
My family gives the highest recommendation to VMP.

Was here a few years ago and neglected to review it. I went to a friends moms funeral and I didn’t know her very well but it was still sad and hard to see my friend in the state he was in. The staff made the entire experience as tolerable as a funeral could be. David was especially compassionate and professional while everyone went up to view the casket. This is a weird thing to say but if anyone of my family members or friends die, I will recommend this place. This place will do anything you ask them to make your experience a little less stressful.

Valente Marini has been nothing short of professional and wonderful during a difficult time in anyone’s life. Heather helped us with our little one and worked as hard as she could to fight for our rights as parents going through a time full of heartache and pain. Valente Marini has also serviced my late father in 1984 and my late brother in 1988, and it only goes to show anyone why this business has existed since 1892. It isn’t just a business, but a group of people that understand the care and ultimate regard for a loved one who has passed on. They understand it’s not just «dead» people or people who «died», but spirits who move on, and whose vessels are indeed still our attachments as grieving humans. I would recommend them to anyone looking for funeral services and/​or cremation services (which is what we chose). Both people I spoke to on the phone, Gus and Heather (who we met and communicated often with), immediately showed a true human heart just from something as simple as a phone call to start with. Thank you.

I have to say most of my family has had their memorial here at Valenti Marini «It’s our neighborhood Funeral Company» I would like to say that for every memorial they have been so professional. My mother just passed this last week and we had a Lady Heather that walked me through everything. She was SO KIND, VERY VERY HELPFUL, and Very nice. I want to Thank her so much for everything she did for the family. I love this funeral home they are THE BEST! Patty G.

When it came time to say goodbye to my father, we went to VM to make arrangements. The gentleman helping us was professional and very sympathetic. The cost was what we expected. When it came time for the funeral, it was unorganized, chaotic, and the young lady assigned to us was less then professional and sarcastic (rolling her eyes in front of the family upon entering the church). I will not use Their services again nor will I recommend them to any others. There are many other options out there to choose from.

Funeral Homes are the last place anyone would ever want to do business with, but the staff at VMPC made our experience as good as could be. From start to finish, they went out of their way to make my daughters service and funeral the best it could be. My wife and I were met with kindness and compassion at every step, and we were made to feel like family. Funerals often come with sticker shock at the price, but not once did VMPC make us feel like money was their number one priority. I pray I never have to make a phone call to a funeral home again, but if I do it will be these guys.

We have had a tragic event restore our faith in people. We lost our beautiful baby to SIDS and after calling several funeral homes and being treated rudely (Duggans), we spoke to Matt at Valente’s. He treated us so well and allowed us so much time with our beautiful girl. His entire staff gave us the respect, care and concern I would only expect from family members. Never once did I feel as though our sorrow was treated as a business deal. Our memorial service ran over the allotted time and the staff at Valente’s let us take as long as we needed. They let us hold our baby the day of her burial and the lovely man who helped us through the day of her burial actually prayed before our baby before closing her casket. He took us to the cemetery and. passed out roses for our mourners to drop on her grave. He stood in the rain with us as we buried our little treasure.
I wish I had no reason to write this review, but going through the experience we did, I could not have asked for more sensitivity, care and goodness from the entire staff at Valente. Thank you so much.

I really never thought I would be writing a review for a funeral home, but alas, my dear father passed away.
I have been going to Valente, Marini and Perata for too many years. I have had family friends, friends and now my father hare for services. Due to my good experience as a funeral goer at this establishment, I decided to contact them when the time came for my father.
There is nothing worse in this world than having to go through putting together memorial/​funeral services for a loved one. I called in and made an appointment, went there with my family (mom, brother, uncle and aunt). The atmosphere was warm and the staff nothing but helpful. I believe I was greeted by Matt who then handed us over to Andrew. He was so nice and kind to my mother who needless to say was not in the best of places. We all moved along the process and put together a very nice service for dad. We selected the Blusish room in the back which is very Catholic.
The day of the service we were taken care of by Gus. Wonderful guy to have there, also very caring and loving. It was also a plus that he spoke Spanish because even though my family speaks English, I know it was comforting for my mother to have someone speak to her in her first language. From the viewing to the end of the funeral mass at San Dominic’s, Gus and the staff was nothing but great.
Yes, funerals cost a lot, but I never felt like I was being taken for a ride here. Just be prepared to pay all costs by time of service. This is standard practice. Some wise words… get life insurance or pre buy arrangements for funerals because they cost over 10k.
Miss ya Dad!

This is a little bizarre. When you rate something 5 stars on Unilocal now, you get an interpretation of what 5 stars means…“Woohoo! As good as it gets!”. Perhaps not so appropriate for funeral parlors.
A couple of years ago I attended a funeral at Valente, etc. for a man who had been very important in my life. He was important to a lot of people, some called him the godfather of punk. He helped provide the soundtrack for our lives, and egged us on to wilder behavior, the ringmaster to a truly absurd and destructive way of life. Us kids were never quite revolutionary enough for him but we did our damndest.
In a room of a few hundred people the same question was asked repeatedly «who are you? who were you?» I think I remember. Is so and so still alive? I can’t believe you’re alive. I can’t believe we’re here. I can’t believe he’s dead.
I know I wasn’t the only one who turned around to see someone I hoped never to see again, and couldn’t bear to see on the way out.
When the service was over I was a more than a little desperate trying to figure out how I would get to my car. I found an employee and asked him if there was another exit, and explained the situation. The sad thing was, he obviously had heard this many times before. He gently took me by the arm, and asked if I would feel safe enough if he escorted me to my car through a back door. Would that be good enough? Would I need more?
So, yeah, 5 stars. Not a woohoo 5 stars, but 5 stars.

My family has been using VMP for generations now. My older brother had his service here in 1965. Then, in 2004 and 2008 when my mother and father, respectively, passed away. Heather and Gus were very professional, friendly, and helpful in the arrangements for my parents. Highly recommended!

Been here many times, unfortunately. I used it last week to say good bye to mom. Professional, caring and accommodating are the words I’d describe these folks. They do their job well.
They lose one star because I feel like I’m in a time warp when come here. They do need to update the 1950’s décor.

I used Valente Marini last month when my beloved grandfather passed away. He was 76. God bless his soul. If there was ever a cooler, funny, fun to be around, sweet, loving and devoted grandpa, it was him.
I remember as a kid that he was just like a dad to me. He was always there for me when I needed him. And I was the closest to him in my family. I miss him and love him.
Valente Marini was very sweet, courteous and very accommodating to our needs. With their help, we were able to give my grandpa the best. We used the Red room #4 for the viewing. It’s a very beautiful room that will accommodate 50 people easily. Dark red lavish rugs, dark red curtains added to the quaintness of the atmosphere.
They have excellent follow up with the death certificates making sure you get them as timely as possible and will accommodate you as effortlessly as possible.
Kudos to you Valente Marini. I love you Lolo! (grandpa)

We stopped here in our time of need to get information and hopefully make arrangements on the insistence of relatives who had used this place before. We were met by an uncourteous employee who told us everyone was busy. We told her we could wait, but instead she handed us a folder with some info and told us to come back at a later date as she proceeded to assist another family that had walked in after us. We made it clear that if we weren’t helped, we weren’t coming back. She ignored us. We waited a bit to see if any of the other employees we saw walking around would help us. It was evident they weren’t. We walked out and went to Duggan’s were we received better service.

I’ve been going here forever. All of my family that had died had their services here, and that’s a lot of people. Sure I’ve known a few people that had used the services of Duggan, but this place is almost like a second home and the people there are decent and accomodating. The best thing about this parlor is its proximity to Safeway, because when you’re grieving in the room at all hours of the day, you can go next door to Safeway for coffee, food, etc.