This webpage lists funeral homes and cremation organizations in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC area that we deem “cooperative.” A “cooperative” funeral home or cremation organization meets two criteria:
ACCESS
- makes its facility available to pathology personnel on a daily basis. At minimum, a four-hour window each day is necessary.
- ideally, makes its facility available on a 24×7 basis.
FEES
- charges a reasonable fee, if any, and assesses that fee only if the facility is utilized after-hours. We have not included funeral homes or cremation organizations where the facility charge exceeds $500.
- ideally, charges no fee to the family (or anyone else) for allowing pathology personnel to use its facilities.
Listed below are places we’ve worked with or called somewhat recently that we deem “cooperative.” This list is not intended to be exhaustive, and serves only as a starting point. If you identify other organizations that should be on this list, let us know.
Fees listed assume that your family is utilizing this business for final arrangements.
Note 1: if you are using a funeral home or cremation organization that does not allow the work on its premises, we can ask one of these “cooperative” funeral homes whether its facility can be rented for a fee for the brain donation work. And the “cooperative” funeral home may provide transportation from the place of death.
Note 2: there are two rare cases when a funeral home or cremation organization need not be open on a daily basis: (1) if death has occurred or (2) if the loved one is utilizing a “death with dignity” act on a certain day/time.
Clancey Strickland Wheeler
Wake Forest, NC
Contact: Andy Wheeler
Phone: 919-556-7400
Web: cswfuneralhome.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours until 10 p.m. by appointment | Fee: $25/hr, minimum 3 hrs |
Endswell Aquamation Cremation
Hillsborough, NC
Contact: Hunter Beattie
Phone: 919-907-9777
Web: endswellcremation.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 8 a.m.-6 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: None |
Lori’s Funeral Home of Raleigh
Raleigh, NC
Contact: Lori Washington
Phone: 919-832-0636
Web: lorisfuneralhome.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: $250 |
Quality Mortuary and Cremation
Durham, NC
Contact: Harry Royster
Phone: 919-598-1416
Web: Families need to call for information as Quality Mortuary and Cremation does not have a website
| Regular Hours | |
| Daily 24/7 | Fee: None |
Renaissance Funeral Home
Raleigh, NC
Contact: Heather Hill
Phone: 919-866-1866
Web: rfhr.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 8 a.m.-6 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: None |
Rich & Thompson Funeral & Cremation Service
Burlington, NC
Contact: Chris Rhodes
Phone: 336-226-1622
Web: richandthompson.com
| Regular Hours | |
| Daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
Richard Harris Funeral Home & Cremation Service
Zebulon, NC
Contact: Jeremy Wheless
Phone: 919-269-7613
Web: richardharrisfuneralhome.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: $125 |
RM Ferguson Funeral Service
Raleigh, NC
Contact: Rumeal Ferguson
Phone: 919-900-7933
Web: fergusonfs.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: $150 |
Sossamon Funeral Home
Henderson, NC
Contact: John Sossamon
Phone: 252-438-4717
Web: sossamonfuneralhome.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: None |
Wake Funeral and Cremation Services
Cary, NC
Contact: Brad Bailey
Phone: 919-465-0989
Web: wakefuneral.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends by appointment. | Fee: None |
Brain donation work is done at Wake Crematory Services, a sister company located also in Cary.
Walker’s Funeral Home of Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Contact: James Lancaster
Phone: 919-942-3861
Web: walkersfuneralservice.com
| Regular Hours | |
| M-F 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Fee: None |
| After Hours | |
| Willing to open on weekends and after hours by appointment. | Fee: None |
Walker’s Funeral Home also has Mebane and Hillsborough, NC locations.