The attendants who assisted in the removal of my father's were professional and showed proper decorum and respect. \r
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But it ended there. Once at the offices of the funeral home it became ""all business"" with no condolences offered and even an incident so full of disrespect, I would have been furious if not already too numb with grief over my father's passing: \r
When my father's cremains were given to me, the woman took them from the cabinet where they were stored and almost dropped the box. Her comment to cover her clumsiness was ""Oh! He's a heavy one!"" and actually laughed! I in no uncertain terms reminded her that those were my fathers ashes and to show a bit more respect. I might as well have been talking to a duck for all the difference it made. \r
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Fast forward two and a half years: Although my father's cremains were scattered on private land, my father was still entitled to a military memorial marker at Fort Snelling national cemetary. When I decided I was ready to visit the site, I attempted to find the location using the cemetary's location website. There was no record of my father's marker online. I called the cemetary directly, they also had no record!\r
When I called the Cremation Society of Minnesota, I was told that ""the family"" had not provided discharge papers or completed the marker request form. This was completely false as I completed the request form in their offices while they photocopied the DD214 discharge papers! The person on the phone insisted they never received them. But if that was the case, why did they still have the honorable discharge certificate but not the papers or request form that I completed on site? They will not admit they screwed up, never followed through to request the forms they lost and never tendered his US Flag! No reminders or follow up whatsoever was attempted!\r
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Thank you Cremation Society of Minnesota for making me relive this painful process a second time.
Pros: Removal attendants very professional and dignified.
Cons: Office staff and Funeral Dir. lack sensitivity/follow though
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