Virgil T Golden Funeral Service

My first visit to a Funeral parlor and was pleasantly (to say the least) surprised ! Like 180 degrees from my expectations , in a very good way. Our interaction with Sarah couldn't have gone better. Kind , caring and understanding what we wished to do with our beloved brother (in law to me) Neville Archambault. NONE of the old bad TV / Movie impressions of the ''upsell'' . What we wanted very simply was to have him cremated and it was no problem. Just a pleasant visit, which considering the reason for being there , was such a relief. We left feeling much better than we came, can't ask for more than that.

Used services for cremation of a loved one. Virgil T. Golden handled every detail with compassion and efficiency. 100% Would recommend.

Joelle is an absolute gem to work with at Virgil T Golden Funeral Services. She made the process of planning my aunt’s funeral service and all the decision making that goes into it so easy and seamless! It was a joy to work with her. She thought of things I wouldn’t have and was so thorough every step of the way, from assisting me in choosing the casket to the flowers to the guest book and folders and all the content, to creating a music playlist, to even the catering, and everything in between. She even arranged for Pastor Bob to officiate. Not a detail was missed, and her communication, calm demeanor, and sweet spirit was appreciated throughout the entire process. The setting at Virgil T Golden is beautiful and is a Salem landmark with a long, well respected history. The day of my aunt’s service went perfectly thanks to Joelle and Andrew. They were there from start to finish and went beyond the call of duty to ensure everything went smoothly. God bless you all for your great service to families in Salem and beyond!

When Virgil T Golden was still family-owned, my father-in-law passed away, and Golden was a great help to us. My in-laws had a funeral plan from the 1990s that hadn’t been updated with their current wishes to be cremated and their remains spread. Virgil T Golden Funeral Home made sure their final wishes were granted and the remainder of the funeral plan insurance was given back to the family, as stated in the policy. My mother-in-law passed away last fall, we contacted Golden again, not knowing they had changed from a family-owned business to a corporate-owned business. They transported my mother-in-law after she passed to their facility. When my husband began making arrangements with them, it quickly became apparent that he was no longer dealing with Golden’s family-owned business. Golden was not willing to work with the current wishes of my mother-in-law. The woman he spoke with from Golden was short with him. She said they would keep any remaining funeral insurance money. The plan states that any unused insurance money will be refunded to the family. We decided to look for another funeral home, willing to work with us. We found Johnson Funeral Home sympathetic and accommodating. They picked up my mother-in-law’s body from Goldens and transported her to their facility. Miles, the owner of Johnson Funeral Home, was understanding, caring, and professional from the get-go! He made sure my mother-in-law’s last wishes were recognized and refunded the remaining insurance money to the family, as was stated in the insurance policy. One final note…Virgil T Golden rightfully charged us for my mother-in-law’s initial pickup. However, the bill was about $250 more than Johnson Funeral Home would have charged for the same type of transport. Thankfully, Miles of Johnson Funeral Home took care of all the paperwork for the insurance policy to cover the double transportation. I highly advise you to look at family-owned funeral homes when making the final arrangements for your loved ones. You don’t need extra stress in a sad time in your life. Virgil T Golden Funeral Home, now a corporate-owned funeral home seems to only care about making a profit, not working with families

During this difficult time with an unexpected loss in our family we were assigned to Trinity at Goldens’. I cannot say enough good things about this woman. Not only is she professional, she is also kind and the most empathetic human. She was able to guide my brother in law and husband through hard decisions and worked well with them getting tasks accomplished in a timely manner. Apparently our family has always used a different funeral home (we didn’t know) but I believe thanks to Trinity that we’re changing that though I hope to not see you all soon. We appreciated all the work that Goldens does such as moving flowers and trinkets to locations, helping setup the memory table, helping with posting the obituary etc. The services provided were top notch. Thank you again for making this rough time of life a lot easier to handle and process.