Bleitz Funeral Home

I called around to a bunch of different places to get information on a removal and cremation of a loved one. Bleitz was probably the 6^th place I called, I’d hung up on all the other locations, because I felt like they were giving me a used car sales pitch.
I didn’t feel comfortable until I was on the phone with Monica at Bleitz. She explained the process and made me and my family feel extremely comfortable. She also explained that some of the discount services out there are outsourced, so you never really know who your loved one is being transported by. She made the decision a no-​brainer without ever making me feel like she was selling us anything.
Thanks Monica and Bleitz!

This was once a caring place to turn to in time of grief. My relatives have come here for generations. However it has been taken over by the ruthless Service Corp International, and they honor nothing that was paid for previously, plus when you contact them in time of great grief, after 3 days of phone messages, they are vicious and hateful. In a business that requires much patience and compassion, we felt we were contacting a drug halfway house instead. The woman working there nastily saying, after repeatedly attempting to contact them that they «NEVER SAID WE WOULD CALL YOU BACK» I ask you, can anyone think of a more hateful response, who doesn’t return calls when you are in business?
Run from this place, something is amiss… it is not the Bleitz we once knew.

«This is Patty. I can help you,» says the voice on the other end of the phone. The greeting is comforting in a time of loss and grief. And they were true to their words.
If you are reading this review then chances are you’ve recently lost someone you loved very much. We found ourselves in good hands with this company and its team of compassionate people.
As we were facing the last days of our loved one, we were referred to Bleitz and didn’t have a clue what to expect. Emotional, exhausted, and wary of the sales side of funeral home businesses, we braced ourselves for what was coming. We expected someone to try and take advantage of us, jaded by what we’ve heard about other places. I am so glad to have been wrong.
The same day we called, Bleitz sent a representative to our apartment to meet with us after we came home from work. She talked us through all of the paperwork for taking care of our loved one after his passing. She had catalogues of urns and helped us choose one based on where we wanted his remains to rest. She didn’t try to sell us anything we didn’t want. She didn’t try to up-​sell us either. Actually, our experience was the opposite.
Our loved one had not made any arrangements. The Bleitz representative had assumed he had already purchased a burial place. She didn’t have the catalogue for the cemetery placement with her. She told us that a place in the mausoleum would be a few thousand dollars. We purchased an expensive urn on the basis that it would be displayed. The next day she called to say she’d been mistaken and the burial place was several thousand dollars more than she had told us. Without question or pause, we were able to select a less expensive urn and were quickly refunded the difference.
Additionally, Leda, the woman who worked with us the most, told us about the Tahoma National Cemetery, where veterans and their spouses can be buried at no cost to the family. It is a beautiful place. Leda did everything to coordinate with the cemetery and called when we needed to provide information or make a decision. She was always responsive, compassionate, empathetic and professional.
There are a lot of services provided by Bleitz. A family can spend a lot of money at this business. We did not. The service was still exceptional.
This isn’t the type of review I would normally write, but I felt compelled after expecting the worst and being greeted again and again with kindness and courtesy and good will. I thought you should know, in case you find yourself in this same heartbreaking situation and are looking for someone to guide and help you through it all.

My mom died of cancer. It took a while to get serious, and by the time it did, she was gone within a week.
The last week, they had her hopped up on methadone for the pain. She said some of the goofiest things when she was on that stuff:
«You know what?»
«What?»
“I can’t drive backwards in my car.”
«Why?»
“Because my ass is going in the wrong direction.“
So a warning to anyone with a relative dying of cancer. As soon as they get them on the opiates, you will have had your last coherent conversation with them.
I didn’t make the funeral arrangements, nor did I pay for this. My sibling did. However, I have heard that this is one of the least expensive funeral services in the city.
What was a little disturbing were the bowls of «life savers» on the tables in the waiting rooms. Ha Ha. Not funny, guys.
I was reading the cremation contract and it said something to the effect that all precious metals that fall out of the body during the process become property of whatever company is doing the cremation. I found out that this is standard practice in the industry. My mom had some gold dental work — maybe I should have pried it out before they took her away. (just kidding, for all you sensitive folk)
Just as we arrived to set things up, a 50ish fellow with what looked like a bad case of Karposi’s sarcoma came in ahead of us with his hot-​pants 20 something Thai gf. He was shopping for an urn.
We were able to have a nice service — a couple of people spoke, one played some chamber music, and I swear I felt my mother’s presence, though she seemed MUCH happier. The couple of kids that were there kept going to the buffet and getting into the ice cream punch. Some scraggly looking guy came in the door during the service carrying a can of Safeway soda. I thought he was a funeral crasher. Then I found out he was a friend of my brother.
One of these days, I’ll crash a funeral just for the hell of it. Or to get at the buffet.

Very kind, caring staff and lovely building from early 1900s. Includes a chapel which can hold many people. Highly recommend.