Applebee-McPhillips Funeral Home

The Applebees-​McPhillips family was so sincerely kind and supportive to my family in our time of great sadness. Mary, Richard & Jodie and staff brought us tea, hugged us and took care of every detail. We will always be very grateful.

If I ever have need of a funeral home again, I would not use them. While Jodi was very helpful and empathetic, the owner was not. Was told that my mother’s ashes would be back by the middle of the week. I began the painful task of setting up the memorial for that weekend. There were several people that needed advance notice to make it. I called several times over the week to ensure that the ashes would be there. Never got a definite response other than «they should be here by Friday.» Called several times Friday afternoon and no one knew anything. Asked to be called on my cellphone for an update, only to have a message left on house phone. Was not at home at all Friday as I was running around making last minute preparations. Finally at 5 pm was called by the annoyed owner who said I could pick up the ashes. Was met by a cold person who definitely made this feel like a business transaction that was inconveniencing her. This made an already hard situation nearly unbearable. Thank you for the nonexistent sympathy. Will probably never recommend them. The only redemption was Jodi and her husband and their gentle handling of the beginning of the process.

Giving this place a low score for many reasons.
The owner’s daughter was taking care of us but never got back to us in a timely manner. We had family trying to buy tickets to fly from CA to NY. We ended up having delay our «celebration of life» for my mom b/​c of this issue.
The owner herself had to step in an take over for her daughter who mysteriously «left town for business». The owner was not up-​to-​date on our plans. Not sure if she did not take the time to read our file and plans, or if her daughter did not fill her in, or if her daughter failed to capture our plans and write them down.
Also we wanted a specific personalized prayer card. The owners daughter said she could «get that for us». Two days before the ceremony she said she could not acquire it, but could use a copy off the web and make one. She also ensured that it would turn out nicely. We did not see a rough draft of both the prayer card and the service till late the night before. Too late for changes. The prayer card was grainy and pixilated. Basically she just stretched the photo causing it to look distorted.
The service itself was not good. There was not enough chairs set out for all the guests. There is a single toilet bathroom for all of our out of town guests, so you can imagine the line of uncomfortable people. The most disappointing… We were told they could make a picture and music collage on cd to play as part of our celebration. Up to 100 photos max. This is how we truly planned to «celebrate her life». We selected the best moments captured on film for this cd.
WELL, the cd would not play. Everyone is sitting and waiting for 10 minutes while this place experiences technical difficulties. At this point they make an announcement that they cannot get the CD to work and that was it. THAT WAS IT??? Way to end the service nicely… People began to say their good byes.
About half of the folks were left and the owners daughter triumphantly returns with a cd she says will work. It does, however, there are only about 30 of the photos that we chose as well as repeated about 10 of them. Both my brother and husband did not make the cut. Thank you for making the executive decisions as to who’s photos will appear! Also, they did not have the music playing till the end as we planned.
I’m sorry we ever picked this place. There are not due-​overs for this type of event. Truly disappointed.

Please do yourself a favor and do not add aditional stress to your already stressful situation when losing a loved one. They are not sympathetic. They are unclear with the information they give you. They say one thing, then change the story. AVOID this funeral home if you prefer a professional and caring funeral home-​which this place is not.