Ultimate Cremation Services of Hawai’i

I recently lost my spouse of nearly 25 years to cancer and even with knowing I would be losing my loved one, it was devastating when that time arrived. On top of the pain I felt from the loss, there was just so many things that needed to be taken care of afterwards. I felt very fortunate that my better half had done a lot of research beforehand on all the details of what I needed to do and who to contact for the services. Hal and Julie really helped with making the this tough time, less stressful. They made all the arrangements from the time of passing, all the way to the services we had at Punchbowl. Everything was explained clearly and whenever we had questions, they always returned our calls promptly. Months prior to my spouse’s passing, we did visit some other mortuaries and it was amazing how expensive just doing the cremation would cost, one place quoted us $ 7500! Ultimate Cremation was a fraction of that… awesome.
Thank you Ultimate Cremation Services for helping to make an incredibly difficult time easier to deal with.

This shameless operation should be run out of business. We chose them when St. Francis Hospice recommended them since we only wanted cremation no other services. We met with Harold Lewis (two other witnesses came with me) who told us that because of the immense amount of cremations that we would have to wait approximately two weeks for cremation. I told Harold that my wife’s last request was to be cremated ASAP since she did not want to be place in a refrigerator. Harold said that all crematoriums were backed up and he could not expedite our request. He could not give me a date and said he would contact us with a date, after numerous calls they repeatedly told me they still did not have a date. Finally after 10 days, calling demanding a date, I was told that they arranged with Nuuanu Mortuary to have her paperwork and body moved there. The very next date Nuuanu expedited and cremated her with the utmost in respect. It took 10 days for Ultimate to respond. We found out later that this company does not have a crematorium of their own and borrows time from other firms. They did not explain this, since by doing so they would lose a customer. They refunded the funds we paid but kept the body storage fee. They took advantage of our age and our grieving to keep their books balanced and make more money. Run-don’t walk from this sham operationI — I only fear that others may have been duped also during what is a very stressful life event.

I cannot express enough how happy we are that we found out about this place. Unfortunately, I’ve had 3 deaths in the family in the last few years and Kevin Kallet helped us with the cremation/​funeral arrangements for two of the three. She is compassionate, professional, organized and very pleasant to work with. Not only is she such a joy to work with, the prices at Ultimate Cremation are affordable and reasonable (as funeral expenses can be outrageous at the time of need). I highly recommend Kevin Kallet and her staff for anyone who is in need of cremation services.

My father passed away more than five years ago. They cremated the body and provided the ashes in an attractive, Hawaiian style package, wrapped in Ti leaves. Very nice. We took the package out onto a canoe and delivered him to the ocean in Kailua. In the turmoil of those days, we thought we had decided NOT to divide his ashes (earlier we thought we would inter a portion of his ashes at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, at Punchbowl, but I thought we had changed our minds). I found out last month that we instructed them to divide the ashes. Why did it take them more than five years to notify us that they still had a portion of my father in their offices? When I went to pick up the ashes, they handed them over in a small, white paper box – something you’d buy cheap jewelry in – the top secured with scotch tape, and in sloppy penmanship, his name, and the words (barely legible) «partial inurnment». Now, I didn’t expect an expensive package (we’re going to inter him at Punchbowl afteral), but really: You mean to tell me there’s no standard, professional package, maybe grey plastic (as when my brother passed away), that costs only a few bucks and looks like it comes from a professional and respectful funeral industry? I could find something for four bucks at WalMart that would have done the trick, with a typed and neat label. Felt disappointing and disrespectful. Wish I could photograph this package to show you what I mean. Tacky, classless. Avoid.

It’s strange reviewing a crematory, but here we are. Julie, Kevin, and Hal made the experience tolerable. They were friendly and kind when a lot of other places I called were very short with me. Losing a loved one was very hard… moms are the best. But these guys really made the tragedy… bearable.
Thanks guys. Provided drinks, helped with everything…
Highly recommend.

It took me nearly 3 months to write this, but here it is…
In December 2012, I lost a family member, close to my heart, and even tough it was of natural causes, you are never prepared when that day comes. One week before Christmas, my loved one passed away in her sleep, that morning everything fell on my shoulders to make some very difficult decisions.
Since nothing was specific in the will, only the wish of cremation was clear, I was left with the burden of final decisions. Yes, it was difficult, but it needed to be done.
After the official pronounced death, the last rites, and consoling from St. Francis Home Hospice, I was asked the question of which mortuary have we chosen. Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Since no one had a clue where to go next, I asked for suggestions from the Hospice care. They gave me a list of mortuaries in Honolulu. The head nurse suggested Ultimate Cremations and mentioned he had only heard of good things from them. Frankly, I thought it was odd that they would suggest anyone specific, but the nurse seemed confident. My Uncle mentioned the competitor, but I liked the suggestion of UC. I don’t know what it was, UC just felt right.
Once the decision was made I called UC and I spoke to Dennis, who arranged the pickup of the deceased. Dennis confirmed with me the pickup time. It was effortless, and everyone involved were sensitive and professional.
The next day, I contacted Kevin, who is the director of UC and a woman. A very compassionate woman with a man’s name;) We arranged a meeting to discuss the chapel viewing, cremation, and other arrangements. Typically, it can take up to 2 – 3 months to complete the service, but in our case it was expedited to only 10 days after the passing, because of family coming in from other states. Everything was paid via check, since the Insurance would take at least a month to be complete. Prices are listed and very clear. Kevin will go over each item carefully. No pressure at all.
The viewing and service was beautiful. Short and sweet. Everyone involved were as professional as it could be. The chapel was clean and «zen» like. The sun broke, the birds sung, and we felt good about everything. I would have never considered a cremation beautiful, until I had this life changing experience. Thank you UC for your respectfulness and Aloha.

Awesome company, staff and owner, Kevin. My brother died at home of natural causes and when that happens the family has to make arrangement for removal to the mortuary. They came within the time and even the drivers were so respectful and caring. They put booties on their shoes so as to not dirty the carpet. From the drivers to the mortuary people it was all done with such care and compassion.
UC is the cheapest price and everything upfront on their website. Thank goodness we believe in cremation and not burial because UC only does cremations. I’ve seen the prices of the other mortuaries for caskets and holy mackerl it’s so expensive to die.
UC offers a free 10 minute viewing for 2 people; more than that or longer one has to pay (prior to the cremation). My neighbor chose (I thought stupidly) to turn it into a viewing service. Then another service later on. Ka-​ching!
The option of using the Oahu Cemetary chapel to me is cheap; about $ 1050 but they provide snacks, coffee and refreshments. They direct traffic/​parking and set up everything for you. They also have options to use different ministers and that’s an added few — the clergyperson will work w/​you on making the program (my neighbor did this too). Their service is for 4 hours total. It was so easy, we unloaded, brought our flowers, and then we just left. (guests were still socializing when we left)
The urns are inexpensive and they also offer scattering of ashes in the ocean for a fee.
I can’t say enough about UC; death is a tough time and they did it with class and compassion. There is NO PUSHING to buy stuff or services. They suggest and we get to look over the price list. BTW my bro had a prepaid funeral plan from 10 years ago so that came in handy. Becuz he had it, we didn’t have to pay anything upfront as he was in their computer system already. The plan then sent us the difference and we used that plus a few hundred bucks to pay for the memorial service.
They only accept CASH or CHECKS — — this is to pass on the savings to us.

I was really stressed out because our beloved had no funeral plans and I did not know what to do or who to call. Kevin was a breath of fresh air after other cremation services either did not answer their phone, were abrupt and wanted to charge for every little thing. Ultimate Cremation Services is a role model for compassionate, respectful, «local» services. Their integrity and professionalism reminded me of the work place values from my grandparents’ day. I highly recommend them and wish them phenomenal success for just being who they are.

I’m glad that the other reviewers had a great experience at Ultimate Cremations. As for my family, it didn’t go very well. When my 94 year old grandmother passed away, my family was on the mainland. We communicated with UC by phone and was led to believe that we would be able to view my grandmother’s body on the day of the appointment. My family and I returned to Maui then immediately flew over to Oahu to say our goodbyes, but at that meeting, we were told that we could not see my grandmother because the doctor had not signed the death certificate. I explained that we had all flown over just to see my grandmother but Kevin really did not make any effort to try to rush the process for us. Since it was still very early in the day, my thought was that if the doctor gets that in ASAP, we could see my grandmother later that day. She said (with no compassion) that the earliest would be Monday. She also insisted that only TWO people could see my grandmother. For more viewers, we had to pay an additional $ 400.00. I explained that we would be gone by Monday but it made no difference to her. Well, we left thinking that Kevin is surely in the wrong position at UC. She should not be in contact with the grieving family because she showed us zero care and concern. The first thing we did when we got home was call the doctor, and guess what. He signed that certificate the day before and when my mom called UC back, they said, «Yes. They had it after all.» Oops! Their mistake and they offered us no apologies. Neither did they ask us to return so that I and my young children could say our final goodbyes. I was very disappointed in UC. Perhaps we weren’t a big ticket item. We were only doing a cremation, no funeral. Regardless, my grandmother chose UC years ago. She had a good life and deserved a better final chapter.
Thankfully, when my mother arrived on Monday for the viewing, UC did a good job of presenting my grandmother.

I think Kevin was great. I cannot imagine having to be professional and caring and sensitive and tactful in this business. Somehow, she’s mastered it. I mean, it can’t be easy talking to people whose loved one just passed away and be respectful of their needs while also answering all their questions and going over mundane (yet necessary) things like billing.
Pretty much, they arranged everything for us from start to finish. They picked up the body, stored it, cleaned it, prepared it for viewing, got the death certificates, did the cremation, got the urn engraved… all in a really timely manner. They had someone come out and coordinate my mom’s service and inurnment and take care of us.
What’s more, they gave us a book about Oahu Cemetery for free after we showed some interest in the Cemetery. It’s a nice, professionally printed book with lots of history and beautiful pictures. It’s not the book itself, though, that I’m appreciative of. It’s the gesture. Giving us something tangible to hold on to in regards to the «place» my mom was cremated was nice.

Wow, I’m really surprised this place doesn’t have any reviews yet. Let me assure you, if you need to host a funeral/​memorial service, the folks here are awesome. I had to throw together a viewing and «modern» Buddhist memorial service for my mother in a week, and working with UCS was as pleasant an experience as something like this could be. Kevin was very patient with us and explained everything very clearly. She never tried to upsell us or pressure us. And on the day of, she and her team really helped everything run very smoothly.
I had called around to a few other places, and not only were a lot of the other places more expensive (charging a fee for every little thing), but they didn’t seem as caring. I think it really goes a long way.
We had about 130 guests, and so many of them told us how impressed they were by the services. Highly recommended!