Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home Inc.

First, I want to take this opportunity to say I've read a lot of the reviews and I had to be my own judge, my parents have lived on Fulton St over 40 yrs, my mom health has detrioriated over the last 2yrs, so of course I went to the Funeral home and requested some information about how to prearranged for my mom's funeral since I didn't know where to start ; the first impression I got was the cleaness, how warm the staff was, how courteous and the way I was greeted, the understanding, professional, and they gave me so much support at all times not to mention they remembered my name. When I met with Simone not just once but twice before I decided to sign a contract, she was so kind, caring, she listened to me and answer every question as professional as possible, there was no pressure, no hassle, they worked with your budget and helped me with certain decisions. Simone even advice me where I could purchase my mom's grave and she gave me the name of the cemetery. My mom hasn't passed as of yet but, I know I made the right decision in going to lawrence H Woodward funeral, the respect and the love, support, care and kindness they showed me told me a lot. I thank the complete staff for their help and professionalism.

December 3, 2014

I just got off the phone with Shurnette of Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral home. On the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving I received a call stating that my Mom’s death certificates had arrived. Today, a week later I decided to call and check because they have not arrived. Shurnette informed me that they were actually on her desk and had never been mailed.
My Mom was a fierce proponent of spending money in her community long before it was in style. Therefore LHW was an obvious choice for her homegoing services as she grew up around the corner.
My thoughts are that LHW is capable of doing the minimum for you and your family in your time of need. They are not capable of any kind of warmth, but they are quite capable in dressing your loved one and shipping the body. My Mom was shipped to her native North Carolina.
I asked for 30 death certificates because my Mom owns a lot of property and in settling her estate I wanted to be able to produce documents whenever asked. The woman ‘HELPING US’ told me she knows millionaires who have not needed that many. Being that I am paying for the certificates and they are not free, I am not interested in who she knows. No one has any idea the lifestyle my Mom led and I do not enjoy being mocked for any of my requests. I do understand that small business people are not required to obtain any training in customer service and are often overwhelmed. This may result in great difficulty being kind to others, even when they are fully aware that their customer is grieving.
On the evening of my Mom’s ceremony, November 13, 2014, right after my arrival we were violently accosted by an apparently mentally ill fellow about the video equipment. Turns out we made a mistake by assuming that we would use the equipment. I imagine we misunderstood, were we to bring a DVD…I actually still don’t know. The mentally ill fellow yelled at us for 7 minutes that, ‘THAT WAS NOT ALLOWED&WE DO NOT ALLOW THAT.’ I was going into shock that anyone was yelling at me as my mother lay in a casket behind me. How could that be? The only explanation is that this person is a friend of the owner and suffers from an undiagnosed or diagnosed mental illness. If Starbucks can understand and convey that they want your experience to be as pleasant as possible, surely a funeral home, whose only interaction with people is in the toughest of times, can do the same. Ultimately we were charged $150 for the use of LHW television. People do not enjoy feeling ripped off by nickel and dime charges that are essentially preposterous. I was not, as I imagine most customers are not, able to put up a fight…So we were ripped off. Not that big a deal, right?
The cherry on top of my deplorable experience with LHW is that now that my checks have been cashed, the little interest in my family that was shown is nonexistent. I have been informed that the death certificates that I was charged for, and chastised for requesting an amount beyond my need…were truly beyond my need…as LHW has not sent them.
It really does take a lot to wow me, yet LHW has. Death, I believe everyone knows, is unpleasant. I am deeply saddened that LHW has made it more so.
Follow Up:
It appears that the business has asked people to review them after I left an anecdote of my family's experience. You will notice that A)all reviews occur after my review, the business just discovered social media B)Perhaps the people they asked to review had a wonderful experience, we did not C)I also reported LHW to the BBB of NEW YORK(you can visit the site to peruse) D)Please also visit Yelp where space was provided for me to provide a photo of the apology letter from Lawrence H. Woodward. I wish I could have posted a photo here.

Unfortunately I have seen other reviews that don't put Woodward F.H. in their highest standards but I'm a witness to the contrary. With unmentioned pain, the death of My Mother and Brother have caused them to be in this family based Funeral Home. The entire Staff went out of their way to accommodate my family. Everything was explained, every cent was reviewed by me even though I didn't pull a penny out of my pocket. Any and all questions were answered. If there was a way to change something we weren't happy with, we were able to change it if need be.There compassion was felt every step of the way, literally to the crematory and even weeks later when the ashes of My Mother and Brother were ready for the Family to pick them up. They went above and beyond to please the Family including My Mother and Brother. Because of Woodward's sincere spirit, my Family was able to grieve with the unneccesary strain of planning a funeral. For us, funerals. I will continue to recommend them and pray that in my day of death that my Family will entrust the shell of my physical being with them.

To the Staff at Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home, Inc: I am writing to wish all of you a very healthy and prosperous 2015. I also want to thank you for the superior services that you provide to families and the community at large. It is always my pleasure to recommend friends, family and clients to you because I know you will always take good care of them. I also know that when I refer people to you that your patience, which a lot of them need during the difficult time of death and grieving, and your funeral service expertise, will always prevail. I recently spoke one of my aunts who attended a funeral service performed last week at your lovely establishment. She was very happy with your professionalism. She told me that she had recently seen the decedent while he was in the hospital and was amazed at how "good" he looked at his Homegoing. She stated "He looked like the man that I knew, not someone who had just died from a long fight with cancer".

Keep up the Good Work and thank you so much!!!

Michael C. Forth, Esq.
January 13, 2015

As someone who has attended numerous services and had a for family members at the Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Homes the review below is appalling.
I have buried my father, and have assisted with the burial of some of my closest friends and family and have never had an issue. I have dealt with this funeral home for over twenty years, and am grateful every time I go in their to see familiar faces. A sign that the turn over rate is low, if the services were so appalling as the reviewer below has stated then the turn over would be high, and the business would not be still standing. I was a child when they arrived at the 1 Troy location, that was over 30 years ago. Business in my neighborhood do not last 30 years, unless the services they offer are phenomenal.
Any one considering attending 1 Troy as we in the neighborhood refer to it, I would definitely suggest them. If you want to use their DVD equipment, you will pay for the use.
I will only use 1 Troy for my family, and send all my friends to them. Reliable, Friendly & Considerate, will never use another funeral home.