Ballard-Durand Funeral & Cremation Services of Hawthorne

I highly Recommend Hawthorne funeral home. Ernie the funeral director was by far nothing but accommodating, going through the loss of my dad and the pain I was feeling, he made my experience painless to have to deal with making my dad’s arrangements.
Ernie is a very special man with a big heart.

My father passed away about a month ago, we knew it was coming for some time. I had never had to plan for something like this and was overwhelmed trying to make arrangements while taking my father to appointments and spending time with my mother, who was also in decline. I got in contact with Ballard-Durand and they were fantastic! There was always someone getting right back to me about ANY question, and there were LOTS. Even after he passed, they continued to reach out with condolences and aftercare arrangements to help relieve me of many of the little jobs that none of us ever think about. I honestly don't know how I would have pulled it all together without their help.

Unfortunately, My family and I did not have a great experience working with this funeral home. My mother and grandfather both passed within 3 months of each other, and we used Hawthorne funeral home. We worked with Matthew the first time, he was very kind and my mother's services went well except for a few things. One being is they never announced the burial and luncheon either after or before the mass, causing tons of confusion and many people the miss both. As well as the precession being so unorganized, another reason at almost half the people at the mass got lost and did not make it to the burial. As for my grandfathers services, it was a MESS. You would think after already spending so much money with them a few months prior we would have been treated better. This time we worked with Mark who was incredibly cold and unhelpful. After setting up all the services with him, we received a call ONE DAY before my grandfathers services telling us both the time for the wake and location and time of the mass were being changed to an earlier time because they had overbooked. This again caused MANY people to miss my grandfathers services because of the very last minute changes on their part. There was also many minor inconveniences, like having to call several times to have spelling errors in the obituary fixed, which is not something you want to deal with when you are mourning, on top of many other things. My Grandmother also had her brothers services here about a year ago and she had worked with Ernie and he was wonderful, unfortunately he is no longer here.

This is never an easy time when you lose a loved one. When my father relocated to Florida he requested when the time came that Hawthorne Funeral Home perform his services. It was after he was placed in hospice that his wife contacted Ernie for advice and guidance. He always made time for her answering her questions with sympathy and compassion. The next step was for my wife and I to meet with Ernie and go over the arrangements. We were there for a few hours all along Ernie continued to help us with the many decisions. His thorough knowledge and advice helped us in so many ways. Never were we meant to feel obligated to have any services we didn't want to. He made us aware of the military services Dad could receive and all we had to do was provide him with the honorable discharge papers and he would handle the rest. He had a team already in Florida so when that dreaded day came Dad would be taken care of. Ernie handled all the arrangements getting Dad back to NY, again, one less thing we had to handle. When I called Ernie on the Saturday evening of Dad's passing he answered the call promptly and started the process with his team in Florida. All along keeping us updated as to where Dad was and what was going on.
As we all know those that suffer before passing do not always look like we remember. Dad's wife was hesitant about an open casket because she wanted everyone to remember him the way he was prior to his illness. When the day of the viewing came we were all presently surprised as to how well Dad looked. He was the Husband, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle and friend we all remembered so his casket remained open. Ernie was always within earshot readily available during our services which also included the church and cemetery. He made our lives less burdened during this most difficult time. He took care of everything including us.
Thank you doesn't begin to express what Ernie did for our family in this time of need. He was always reassuring, going above and beyond to make sure every aspect was taken care of with dignity and respect. We will always be eternally grateful to Ernie and the entire Hawthorne Funeral Home team. They are truly a remarkable group of compassionate and sympathetic people and if I could have given them more than 5 stars I would have.

During a very difficult time for our family with the loss of our father, we met with Ernie Carpentieri who walked us through every process of planning the funeral services with professionalism, honesty and sincere concern for our family. It was my first time experience in arranging a funeral service. He went above and beyond to make our family feel comfortable and assist us in anyway possible.

Everything went so smoothly from the funeral services to following the procession to church, then to drive pass the Valhalla Fire Department, since my Dad was a 51yr. member. They also drove past my Dad’s home before heading to the cemetery. It was so heartwarming.

After all the services we return to the funeral home and was greeted by Ernie who had all our flowers, pictures, cards neatly organized for us to take home. He said anything additional we would need he was there for us. We will never forget the kindness and compassion Ernie and his staff has showed during this difficult time.

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