Lima Family Milpitas-Fremont Mortuary

I just experienced the burial of a family member of my wife’s family. The memorial service was fine. It was during the burial that this company excersized very poor form when their representative interrupted the emotional last moments to rush the service along. The man claimed that it was because the cemetery (separate company) needed to do their work. We had been there for about 45 minutes at that point. The company representative interrupted the service three times, at one point cutting off the priest who was giving last words. Following the service, the man then proceeded to lecture the entire service party for ten minutes on how to care for each other over the coming weeks. Lecturing the family is not the place of the mortuary services company and it is offensive that they should have the last word of a funeral, particularly after having rushing the service.

I do not want to speak badly about the cemetery where my father’s remains currently reside. So I will try my best to be fair about my experience (from October 2015 to present):
I want to say that I am satisfied with the location and area, since my father is Chinese. There are a variety of minority members, especially Asian, at this lawn. This is usually more comforting for traditional immigrants, and my father was pleased as well when we informed him that we booked his plot a little before his death. (20% off for pre-​death discount — sigh)
For working on what I consider one of the most frustrating, ugliest type of service, the staff on site are actually very friendly and helpful. They do the most they can and are flexible with their appointments.
[Truth: My mother and I have never felt pressure to purchase or book anything.]
I’m surprised to read about the dissatisfaction from their service and others’ experiences, but I feel it really depends on the emotional levels and resistance many families can have when meeting for arrangements on these morbid cases. Who’s ever excited to deal with post-​death talk and plans? It’s not easy to deal with so many families and their personal issues, and I even wondered to ask Mildred (funeral manager), herself, about her experiences after she patiently listened and assisted my long distance calls in person. Apparently, she has her regular hours from 8am-​5pm (or around then), and she also is responsible in handling any family issues or urgent calls that may occur in the middle of the night (ex: 2:30am). Then, she is expected to go back to work like normal in the morning!
James L. Dang, our salesman, too has been very helpful and sweet in assisting our complex needs and also accompaniment for our graveside service, which was held under a light storm. He went far beyond than he needed to in making sure we were taken care of. There’s a post from another reviewer about his disservice and negative qualities, which I could not believe was him at all. This man was kind hearted and very accommodating. Every loved one has their specific wishes, and the people here do their best! You will need to be responsible and ahead in research for your detailed planning, as heartbreaking as it gets.
Overall, for a plot /​grave space for your loved one, I highly recommend this lawn cemetery. There are a variety of memorial spaces and unique areas.
— RIPOFF WARNING —
1 lack of a star– Price Range for caskets, funeral arrangements, and such? (Oh so bad) The deception /​the outright manipulation behind this whole scheme is Dignity Memorial. (
). The title of this business should be stated as «Dignity: Lima Family.etc.» — this is seriously sick, everyone. Dignity cashes in on Death. They are out there to buy every family memorial garden like this one and immensely overcharge you. The family name is kept to make you think the lawn cemetery has completely genuine intentions.
You may read more specifics on my elaborative post:

If I can give a negative star it still wouldn’t be accurate enough. My family and I endured a 3 hour emotional contract appointment where my sister and I were promised «100% guarantee» that my grandfather’s last wish will be fulfilled. The day of his passing we called to begin arrangements. We were told our contract can no longer be fulfilled and thus, my grandfather’s last wish can no longer be fulfilled. The agent, James L. Dang, was «not available» however after multiple calls and messages, the agent returned the phone called and aggressively responded. Statements included «I don’t care what your family wants» and «You can try to sue me if you want, I don’t care.» The funeral home was aware of the situation and were extremely cold.
Thankfully we were able to find a DIFFERENT funeral home to fulfill my grandfather’s wishes at the last minute. It has been several months now and we are still left with dealing with the funeral home regarding releasing my grandmother’s contract. On the worst day of my adult life, losing a grandparent who raised as his daughter following the death of my mother, this funeral home with the agent who LIED and treated us HORRIBLY, made it worst.
In hindsight, we were glad we worked with the funeral home we did. The people were caring and sincere. I am glad my grandfather did not have to rest at Lima. Lima is cold, cruel, insincere, money-​hungry, and terrible people who I hope one day realize how much they have hurt people with their actions. As my grandpa once said, Karma is a bitch. If you care about your loved ones, which you do since you are researching a place for them, STAY AWAY, and in particular, stay far far away from agent JAMES L DANG. He is a heartless man who I hope have trouble sleeping at night for all the hurt he causes.

They took care of us when we had to make preparations for my Lola (grandmother)‘s funeral arrangement last 2012. They were professional enough to be there and yet non-​persistent to make the sale. They told us about the price ranges of each packages and allowed us to think it over without pressure and within our budget. Like I said they took care of us that time.
Now, thinking about it, we were totally satisfied with the service we got for our Lola and we come to visit her as much as we can. Just like yesterday afternoon.
The place itself is kept maintained. I can’t say it’s well maintained cause their signs say that flowers are taken out every Wednesday but my uncle’s dried up flowers (Yes, we have other relatives buried here who we also visit) are still there. They do apologize for not keeping the grass moist because of the drought CA is experiencing — so they posted several signs on the lawns.
It is quiet and peaceful and organized so traffic wont be such a hassle and flow of traffic is systematized (place was packed from another viewing and previous burial) so it’s a recommended place to go if you’re looking for such a place.

Do I have to even give them a star? This place was horrible. My sister pre-​arranged and paid in full for all cost associated w having my grandfather viewing and cremation. Our only request was from our grandfather’s last wish… To have it the day after he goes. We made sure they were able to do this and made the call that afternoon when he passed. They gave me to run around as to why they can’t do the service next day… Paperwork, 3-​day county certificate, embalming, etc… Then finally said they were booked that day. Jason was the one that promised everything and when my upset sister talked to him, he said «I don’t give a f* about your family or what they want». This is a place that lacks compassion and professionalism. They run a business and it’s all about maximizing profit… Over promise and under deliver. Jason was a horrible person and made that day unbearable for my family. During a time like this, choose another place so that you can spend time w family and grieve — not time arguing w arrogant and unprofessional staff members how seem to just read off the books and can care less about your needs.

My dad’s funeral services were this past weekend and my family and I are extremely upset about how they run their business.
1. The (dark haired) receptionist doesn’t know what she is doing. My aunt called in the day after my dad passed away and told them that we will need information on what to do and how to go about the services. The receptionist DID NOT mention anything about a «first call,» and just wrote down on a piece of paper my dad’s information. It wasn’t until the following day that me, my sister and other family members came to the funeral home that she told us we needed a «first call» to be put into the system. Because she didn’t tell us we needed the «first call,» another family had booked the big chapel before us. The receptionist needs to learn to do her job so the family in grief doesn’t have to deal with incompetent people at the funeral home.
to be continued…
Update 1:
Not even 2 months have passed since my dad’s funeral when my mom, sister and I came to visit my dad’s site. The grass on top was completely dead. Even the others around my dad who had passed after him had better nicer grass than my dad. I went to the front desk and talked to the nice receptionist Lindsey (blonde), and asked her if something can be done. She took down my information and told me that I will be getting a call once it is done. I got the call a week and half later and was told that new grass has been put on my dad’s site. I wish that I could come and see if there is actually new grass put up, but since living in San Diego, I cannot just fly home and see.
Update 2:
I came to visit my dad and was furious that the grass was more dead than last time! Did they even replace the sod at all? I have attached a picture.
Overall, I am absolutely furious that my family and my dad is being mistreated by this horrible funeral home by incompetent people who do not know how to handle business as well as take the grieving family’s feelings into consideration.

I wish they would clean up all the markers in the whole site… They let the whole place go, it looks pretty nasty… I asked and asked for them to be cleaned up, all I hear is «We are starting to clean» but my husband was placed here 25 days ago, it still looks the same… dirty & full of weeds!!!

I won’t name names, because I realize jobs are on the line.
I realize now that death is a business, and there are people who will profit off of death. Granted, a service is provided and they should be fairly compensated, but my experience with Lima really opened my eyes to how everything really is just business, and that it’s nothing personal.
Death is a funny thing — it puts people in a vulnerable position, where they need understanding, compassion, and sympathy. I won’t fault the personnel at Lima for trying to maximize profit, I won’t fault them for constantly trying to encourage the surviving members of the family to plan ahead and pre-​buy their own burial plots, I won’t fault them for playing the I-usually-don’t-do-this-but-let-me-give-you-a-discount game.
The thing that sticks with me to this day, and upsets me every time I think about it, is the grave side service. We had probably over 200 people come for the grave side service, and when you’re trying to mobilize so many people, you tend to run behind schedule. Apparently we ran late with the grave side service, and the grounds crew needed to usher the guests off the lawn to start packing the dirt. We tried to let people know, gently and calmly, that they needed to return to their cars and leave the grounds, but I guess some people were still sad and grieving and were moving too slowly — because at this point, one of the Lima associates starts YELLING at people, «YOU NEED TO GET OFF NOW!!!» That moment is forever seared in my mind, and really woke me up to the fact that as much as they say they are sorry for your loss and that if there is anything you need to please let them know, it’s just business and my brother-​in-​law was just another cadaver to them and these guests who were mourning were merely a nuisance getting in the way of their job.
But hey, it’s a dirty job and someone’s got to do it.

Was here for a couple of days for my uncle’s memorial service, viewing, funeral and burial services. Everyone here seemed very professional and caring for my family (some staff definitely more than others).
They have a very large chapel with a large flat panel television to allow for video and slideshow tributes. The mortuary is owned by the larger parent company, Dignity, Inc – who, back in Delano, planned my father’s funeral in 2007. From my experience, they are a very professional team who understands the funeral process and does their best to ensure the process is smooth. I’m fairly sure this is the kind of service they also offer here at Lima. As other reviewers have already mentioned, it is a one-​stop-​shop if you’d like them to be.

My father-​in-​law recently passed away and we worked with Kim to arrange 2 days of services then cremation. BTW, he passed away on Tuesday and we arranged services that Saturday and Sunday — crazy! Everything was rushed because we wanted to hold services while family and friends were still in town. My in-​laws are Bhuddist while I am Christian so there was an added level of complexity in satisfying all the religious requirements that I am unfamiliar with. Kim was amazing! She was very responsive and took care of every challenge that came up. It is extremely hard for things to go smoothly so having someone who really cares and that can get things done is crucial to one’s sanity. Kim was caring, supportive, flexible, dependable and her attention to detail is the reason why I am writing this review. The staff that we worked with like Maria, Cindy and Jana also made our experience as pleasant as can be. If I had to arrange another funeral, I would definitely work with Kim and Lima Family Mortuary.

Comfort and guidance in a time of need. Lima pulled through for us. At a time when your mental faculties are underperforming, they act as crutches and get you to where you need to be.
Kim was extremely easy to work with, and she made sure that all aspects of the funeral services were covered, with just a few hiccups. We held a 12 – 9 viewing on a Saturday, a 6 – 9 viewing/​rosary on Sunday, and funeral services and burial on Monday. Kim was very responsive, and texted us back almost immediately when we had questions.
They have packaged services that end up being cheaper than if we made selections individually. I’m actually surprised at the number of things they handled. They were very much like project managers. Not only do they offer services for the typical mortuary type dealings (e.g., coffins, headstones, plots), they offer flower services, customized programs and prayer cards, website memorial, customized guest book, limo services, motor cycle escorts, catering, obituaries, death certificate, etc. They also handled the donation to the church so that we didn’t have to make multiple payments to different places.
We didn’t use all of their services. For instance we handled our own food and programs. They seriously did make everything easy for us. Kim was even familiar with buffet venues that would be convenient for us for after the burial.
VIEWINGS:
My father looked very nice. Only one hiccup though, and it wasn’t too big a deal for us, but I can imagine it could possibly be horrifying for other families. We had purchased additional embellishments that would go on the corners of the casket, and the staff forgot to add them. We inquired about them, and it turned out that they were accidentally left in the coffin at my father’s feet. At least they asked our permission to retrieve them. It seriously didn’t bother us too much though.
Not sure what vendor they had for the flowers, but they were very lovely. We set up my iPad behind the piano to play my father’s favorite music the whole day.
We were in the large chapel that is adjacent to a nicely sized break room. This was extremely convenient as we had food both days. The sound system in the chapel was stellar. We played a video tribute on their large widescreen tv, and the sound played through a sound system.
There are also couches in a little lobby type area right beside the chapel entrance that was convenient. It gave you some place to go to for a reprieve. I took two quick naps sitting on the couches.
If you’re serving food, I would absolutely recommend the bigger chapel, because the smaller chapel doesn’t have a private area for eating. Many of our guests sat in the food area eating, after paying their respects.
There were also two Lima staff attendants on hand to assist us if needed.
BURIAL:
Lima attendants were at hand at the church to help make sure the casket was handled properly.
After the church services, the hearse – along with the procession – paused in front of our house for several minutes; one final goodbye for my father. Unfortunately, my mother, my sister and myself missed it, because the hearse left us behind, and we were stuck behind 10 – 15 cars. The driver didn’t really know which car we were in, and assumed that the car that pulled behind it was us, but it was just a car full of my mother’s friends. We were not happy, but for the most part we had a great experience with them.
I would recommend the use of the police escorts. When you have a long line of cars following a hearse it’s handy to have police escorts to stop traffic so that all the cars can stay together.
The burial was very professional, and Lima handled the proceedings after the priest had completed his portion. They even handed out maps to the buffet place to people who needed them.
It’s an inevitable part of life, often tucked away in the back of our minds. We plan for many things in our lives (e.g., college, vacations, weddings, retirement), but death… Death is a difficult aspect of life to plan for, but let’s be real. Death is expensive. Give your loved ones a few less things to worry about, and plan ahead. It’s actually cheaper that way, because Lima has monthly sales for services purchased ahead of time. Luckily my parents purchased their plots a long time ago for 8k. It would have been 13k if purchased now.
Aside from the two hiccups, Lima was fabulous. They made this difficult situation easier to handle.

I came here to watch the Memorial Day service. I arrived at 9:45, fifteen minutes before the scheduled start, and already all the parking spaces were taken, so they had us park in a dirt area designated for future development.
Before the service started they offered free donuts, and various veterans group’s had information booths going. There were around 100 chairs set out for the spectators, but they filled up fast, so a lot of people had to stand to watch the festivities.
The mayors of Fremont and Milpitas in addition to veterans organizations gave speeches to honor the military personal who gave their life for our country. There was a wreath ceremony, Taps played on a bugle, Amazing Grace played on a bagpipe, a youth orchestra and a gun salute.
After the ceremony, a free lunch was provided, consisting of either a hamburger or hot dog, chips and bottled water or a soft drink. They ran out of hamburgers right away, so most people got stuck with a bad tasting cold hot dog wrapped in foil.
The cemetery itself is spacious, kind of like a park with lots of trees and benches. They had it cleaned up for the event, with a small American flag on each veterans grave.
A famous Fremont landmark, the old windmill tower, is located here in the southern part of the cemetery.

Its been several months since I worked with Lima Family Mortuary. This review is long overdue, but I needed some time to adjust. Anyways, I used this facility after my father recently passed away. I worked closely with Kim and James to plan my dad’s service and burial. I really dreaded planning my dads funeral. I could not have gone through this ordeal though without the help of these two individuals. This was a very difficult time and they patiently and compassionately helped me through the whole process. They were always available by text, emails, and calls (even when it was late at night). I did not feel any pressure to purchase anything I did not feel comfortable with. Even when I made mistakes with my dad’s name on the prayer cards, they quickly fixed it (even after they already had several cards printed already). I almost felt like they were family. If you need help with getting through something like this, I highly recommend working with these two.

This place is a lot better than their branch in Santa Clara.

Came here recently for a funeral. I really like this place as its quiet and peaceful. Not much to say here as it is a Mortuary. I do have a few family members buried here, and come here every now and then when I needa clear my head without any interruptions

Why rate this place? You’re probably wondering WTH?
My dad is buried here (1999), and more recently (2011), so is my younger brother. My sister worked here for a number of years and that’s why this mortuary was chosen. I’ve come here, every time I am in the Bay Area (so been here, several times over the years). We kept getting lost the first few years of coming to visit (more familiar with the DC/​SF area). It helps that we take the GPS system with us, now, on our trips. It’s kinda funny that the next street is another city (Milpitas).
It occupies the corner end of the street, that is fenced. The grounds are huge, lush and green. The property is kept well. The people who work here are professionals. It’s a sad business dealing with mourning and loss, and when there are things in place to help make it a little easier, it is a big help. The parking lot is small, but when we’ve come to visit, it really hasn’t been a problem for us (not including my brother’s funeral– lots of people came to pay their last respects). And a final note, the paved driving route is one loop.

My gramps is buried here, never had a complaint, the grass and area around it is clean. there’s always on going revamping going on there, expanding more dirt area to grass area, seems like a 20 year project

Cedar Lawn is where our Son is buried and I’m sorry to say the place looks like ‘Potters Field’. The landscaping is always in a shambles, The Grass is hardly ever green or watered. The inside building is clean and orderly and the sales folks are very caring, (especially Liz) but the manager isn’t the most gracious. so, If you’re looking for the grass to be greener on the other side, don’t go to Cedar Lawn.

Kim was the lady giving us consultation. It was the first time for me to handle a funedral in my life. She was very informative, professional and caring us throught the process. But things went WRONG when Kim was off for few days after the consultation before funedral. We gave them my uncle’s clothes, shoes and other stuffs we want to put into the casket 3 days before the funedral. Ruth, who sat at the reception, took a detail note and instruction of how we want the stuffs layout and position (it’s very important, that why we went there and spoke with her in person). The person who do embalming MUST NOT expert us open the bottom half of casket. The day before funedral, we found out the pair of SHOES were not on my Uncle’s feet. The paper money were not place at the position we requested; they all laid on top of my uncle’s legs. It stopped us the buddist ceremony and family worship and had them fixed ourselves when we’re all already extreme sad and horrified. WE ARE SO SO DISAPPOINTED. Kim did apologize about that the next day. I think she needs to manage her crews better. SO CHECK THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE CASKET.

The reason I am giving a review of this place cause it’s the resting
place of my pop. RIP DAD. We had a beautiful service for him. The
staff was very caring especially in our time of grieve.
This place is nestled in the Fremont/​Milpitas borader. with a view of
the hills witch is very nice. ample parking for your visitors as well.
another plus it’s close to home so if I ever want to spend time with
my dad it’s just right there as well. They also have this guy that sells
flower as you enter. If you are in need to buy some flowers for your love
one and forgot to stop @ your local Safeway. Don’t worry he gots you
covered.
Also for all you veterans out there they even arrange of some people
to come out to the grave side and they did a salute for him and folded
the flag that was draped over his coffin.
I am glad that my dad choose Lima Family for his final resting place ! !
Job well done on the part of the staff.