On my way to Hall county Sheriff's Department I happened to pass by this memorial cemetery. Stopped here a few times throughout the week while I was running errands in the Gainesville area of Hall County. I usually visit cemeteries to learn a bit of history wherever I am. Aside from funeral ceremonies, there's plenty of history here. From erected statues dedicated to the history of USA presidents, economic growth, and amazing biblical stories. Very neat place.

Prior to my dad’s death I had no exposure to funerals, funeral homes, or any sort of funeral planning. I had been to one funeral when I was 12 and that was it. I had heard horror stories of funeral homes taking advantage of your grief to upsell you as much as possible. I came into Memorial Park Funeral Home braced to keep a level head and hold my ground. My dad was a practical man and would’ve been livid if we spent a fortune on his funeral. But to my pleasant surprise, none of the things I had been warned about were true. From picking my father up at the nursing home where he passed to discussing different options for the viewing, memorial services, and cremations, not once did I feel I was being upsold. In fact, I was touched at how sincere the funeral directors were and how they went above and beyond to accommodate my family’s cultural ceremonies. I was hesitant as I was also not familiar with Buddhist ceremonies and was working as the middleman and translator between the funeral directors and my family. The man who worked the Crematorium was originally not available the day of my father’s funeral. But since Buddhist tradition dictates that the body must be cremated the day of the other ceremonies were done, my family wanted me to see if it would be possible to push the cremation to the same day. I told them it was unlikely they would be able to make that change on such short notice, but to my surprise they were able to make it happen! I’m eternally grateful for the sincerity, compassion, and adaptability of the staff at Memorial Park Funeral home. I’m still not sure if the stereotypes about upselling are true at other funeral homes, but my family’s experience here was exceptional.

I would not recommend using this funeral home. Everything was such a hassle. The staff does not communicate with each other. No one could give us information we needed. We were told we just had to wait and see. We were told to come in 3 days before the service to order flowers but when we got there they told us that their flower catalogues were old and they didn’t know what flowers were offered now and that we should just go to a florist for the flowers. This left us scrambling to get flowers in 3 days. They also made programs for us but couldn’t tell us or show us what they would look like so we saw them for the first time at the service. Do not use this funeral home unless you want to deal with a complicated hassle while already grieving.