Hometown News and Views

By Phyllis J. Neuberger

“Our history began back with my grandfather, Bernard Leo McIntee, Sr. who owned our family’s first funeral home in Rochester, New York in 1906,” says Bernie McIntee the third.  “And here we are, over a hundred years later carrying on the family tradition. In 2004 my wife Marcia and I bought out the Kalis Funeral Home at 2505 North Dixie Hwy. in Wilton Manors to become one of the last independent funeral home providers in the area.”

Asked if being independent is an advantage, Marcia says, “Indeed it is.  We are able to accommodate any request made by the family of the deceased. No one has ever been refused service because of  an economic position. Because we do not need to call a corporate office or Wall Street for a decision, we can work on the spot with every client’s budget.”

Bernie elaborates.  “We are not controlled by any national chain or corporation. We can provide value and service that has become uncommon in an industry dominated by mergers and acquisitions. It’s not hard for us to compete because we are accountable only to the families we serve.”

Bernie is a licensed funeral director and embalmer as are Ryan L. Waggoner and James D.Caudill, who are associates in this family’s business. A licensed mortician must have a minimum of a two year associates degree in mortuary science, serve a one year internship and pass the national and state funeral director exams.  “And years of experience, such as we have, certainly adds warmth and dimension to our quality  of service,” Bernie says.

Marcia handles the business end of the funeral home and is quick to answer the question about changes over the years. “I’d estimate that 75 percent of arrangements chosen now are cremation.”

Bernie tells why. “Although the traditional funeral is available, it’s chosen less and less because the corporate owned cemeteries charge so much for ground and crypt burial. Because of these high costs,  more families are choosing cremation unless they already have a prepaid plot.  Most city-owned cemeteries are much more affordable and we point this out to clients who want a traditional burial.”

For cremation, Kalis-McIntee transports the deceased directly to their funeral home where he or she is held for 48 hours, required by law. This time period allows for the family and friends to say farewell informally or at a service. “Our service will procure and handle all necessary documentation prior to the cremation,” Bernie explains. “If requested, we will fulfill any stated desire for disposition of the cremated remains, be it scattering or inurnment at a cemetery.  We’ve scattered ashes at sea, on golf courses, at the race track and other surprising places.”

He adds, “Florida is such a melting pot, it’s not unusual to have requests for the deceased to be transported out of state and even out of country. Families are so spread out now that they seldom see each other except at weddings and funerals. Knowing that, we treat families who gather in our funeral home as if they are our own, providing celebration of life, church, chapel and home services.”

He cites a statistic. “It is projected that a family will have a loss once every seven years. Pre-planning is a great help to surviving families. There are two options to pre-planning, funded and unfunded.  We offer both for those who want to determine every detail of their final arrangements. In either case, we keep all information on file so that the family does not have to make decisions at the time of need. Over and over we are told how grateful families are when pre arranged desires have been made known, eliminating this responsibility from the survivors.”

Marcia explains that Kalis-McIntee has embalming facilities on the premise, unlike the corporate funeral homes that use centralized systems. “We also have a chapel and enough space to handle several services at one time. We can provide services for all religions and ethnic groups. We and our staff are all very community oriented and fortunately have many referrals from families pleased with our personalized service.

Read what a few surviving families have written

Surava Virsion writes, “This is the second time I have used your services, and as I was the first time, I am very satisfied. I chose you the first time because you were the only one that did not try to sell me something over the phone. Instead you asked me what I was looking for. I will be glad to recommend your services and will use them again.”

 “Dear Bryan, Thank you for making this difficult process manageable. We feel that you went above and beyond in the service rendered to my husband. I have adopted you as one of my sons. Sincerely, Evangeline and the Leontsinis Family.”

“Dear Bryan, . . . No words can express my thanks to you. . . . My husband, Father Constantine, told me, “I hope Bryan is around when I die to take care of me.” Mrs. Evelyn Mitsos.”

Officer Stilwell, president/commander of Broward County Multi-Agency Honor Guard, writes:

“Thank you and the wonderful staff at the Kalis-McIntee Funeral Center for your assistance with our Honor Guard training academy. We recently conducted a training course for 115 Police Officers and Firefighters from all over Florida on the practices and protocols on “in the line-of-duty death police funeral services.” With the assistance of your facility and the important working tools we needed it was a great success. As always you and your staff were willing to lend a hand to a very delicate subject. On behalf of all of our Broward County and the State of Florida Honor Guard Personnel, we thank you.”

Call 954-566-7621 or e-mail kalismcintee@fdn.com