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Best of 2001: Best Funeral Joint, If You Don't Want To Pay An Arm And A Leg

Mayer Mortuary
2859 Adams Avenue, Normal Heights
619-281-7055

Sponsored
Sponsored

It's extraordinary for one reason: it's independent. This, in a time when the funeral chains are eating up small independents all over. Corporations like the Houston-based Service Corp. International and Vancouver's Loewen Group Inc., want a bigger slice of the $7 billion-a-year death industry pie. And, naturally, the more burial plots, the fancier the coffins and the services sold, the better their bottom lines. John Mayer can sell you a $5000 casket, too, but he says he's just as happy putting you in a cardboard coffin and sending you to cremation for $565. "We can do a sea scattering after that for $45 more," he says. "Or place the ashes in an urn for $50 more." The cheapest burial package (which includes embalming, but excludes casket, service, and cemetery plot) is $595. And one thing they promise not to do: pitch the "You owe it to your loved one to give them the best send-off possible" argument.

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Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024

Mayer Mortuary
2859 Adams Avenue, Normal Heights
619-281-7055

Sponsored
Sponsored

It's extraordinary for one reason: it's independent. This, in a time when the funeral chains are eating up small independents all over. Corporations like the Houston-based Service Corp. International and Vancouver's Loewen Group Inc., want a bigger slice of the $7 billion-a-year death industry pie. And, naturally, the more burial plots, the fancier the coffins and the services sold, the better their bottom lines. John Mayer can sell you a $5000 casket, too, but he says he's just as happy putting you in a cardboard coffin and sending you to cremation for $565. "We can do a sea scattering after that for $45 more," he says. "Or place the ashes in an urn for $50 more." The cheapest burial package (which includes embalming, but excludes casket, service, and cemetery plot) is $595. And one thing they promise not to do: pitch the "You owe it to your loved one to give them the best send-off possible" argument.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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