Surrounded by the breathtaking Great Smoky Mountains in Waynesville, North Carolina, Garrett Funerals and Cremations and Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Park are here to help your family during the loss of your loved one. Our caring and diverse staff understands the challenging decisions you face, and strives to help you create a unique and memorable service for your loved one.
At Garrett Funerals and Cremations and Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Park, we believe that every life is unique, and every funeral should be too. We celebrate life. And for those who are thinking of planning their arrangements in advance, we offer The Simplicity Plan® prearrangement program, an easy way to handle an important family responsibility.
Garrett Funerals and Cremations
Founded in 1928 by N. W. Garrett and his wife Mary Moody Garrett, Garrett Funerals and Cremations is the oldest funeral home in Waynesville, serving Haywood, Jackson, Madison and Buncomb Counties.
The current funeral home building, established in 1968, is a setting where guests can truly feel at home as they relax in the rocking chairs under our covered porch. The building’s landscape of colorful flowers and trees is manicured daily. Ample parking is available for guests.
In the lobby stands an antique grandfather clock from the original funeral home. Elegantly designed in warm colors, our two arrangement rooms and four private visitation rooms offer solace to families seeking help with their loved one’s final wishes. The selection room features a variety of caskets, urns and a vast array of personalization items. We also provide refreshments for guests at funeral services.
The chapel, which comfortably seats 250 guests and can be used for visitation services, contains cushioned pews, an organ, a piano, a video camera for recording services and a large screen to display video tributes. We also offer a private family room adjacent to the chapel.
At Garrett Funerals and Cremations, we provide knowledge, experience and assistance to families—from filing insurance to planning and catering for the post-funeral reception. We offer and encourage families to take advantage of our numerous options for personalizing their loved one’s funeral services, such as displaying pictures or personal items. Through our “Fondest Memories” program, guests are asked to write about favorite memories of their loved one, which we compile into a scrapbook and present to the family as a keepsake. These are just a few of the many personalization options available.
Garrett Funerals and Cremations accepts all burial policies and offers a variety of cremation options. We can arrange memorial services at our funeral home or at one of the many other popular locations in the area with whom we have partnerships. Scattering can also be arranged through Garrett, such as scattering from airplanes, boats, hot air balloons and more.
Because we believe in caring for our friends and neighbors in the community, Garrett Funerals and Cremations is active in community outreach. We host the Memorial Tree program at Christmas, an Easter Sunrise service and monthly birthday parties at a local nursing home. Our funeral home is also available to community service organizations, church groups and support groups for meeting space. Garrett’s staff members are also very active in the community and devote many volunteer service hours to a variety of service and civic organizations and programs that assist senior and handicapped citizens.
Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Park
Since 1947, Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Park has compassionately and professionally served families’ burial needs. The only perpetual care cemetery in the area, Garrett-Hillcrest is situated on a hillside with a spectacular view of the mountains.
The cemetery office is conveniently located near the main entrance, providing two comfortable arrangement rooms and easy access to records.
Landscaped with our well-known majestic oak tree and other colorful trees, foliage and flowers, the park’s burial sites feature flat, flush bronze memorial plaques. Private mausoleums for families are also an available option. Garrett-Hillcrest also offers a variety of options for cremated remains, such as mausoleum niches and cremation benches.
The indoor Chapel of Serenity Mausoleum, uniquely crafted with marble and granite crypt fronts, contains a stately chapel that comfortably seats 350 guests. Its 40-foot ceilings with wooden arches allow for brilliant acoustics during services. The chapel contains a keyboard, and also features skylights that beautifully illuminate the building. The mausoleum is climate-controlled and contains restrooms for guests.
We strive to personalize services according to your family’s wishes and offer opportunities to honor the memory of your loved one. One of these many distinct ways is through the “Everlasting Memory” program, in which a photo of your loved one is imprinted with a Bible verse and lovely background of your choice.
Garrett-Hillcrest is active in supporting the community by hosting an annual Easter Sunrise service, a Memorial Day service and the Christmas Celebration of Remembrance service, during which we adorn the park with a gorgeous display of 1,500 luminaries.
Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Park accepts all funeral home policies and is designed with future generations in mind. Of the park’s 26 acres, 15 acres are developed. Plans are in place to establish a scattering garden, while construction is presently in progress for an addition to the Chapel of Serenity Mausoleum.
Memories that live on forever...the Enduring Memories© Video Booth
Preserving our family legacy can be the most important thing we can do for our children, grandchildren, and future generations. Garrett Funerals and Cremations is pleased to offer families the unique opportunity to share, record, and preserve their own special memories of their loved one through our exclusive multi-media tribute program. Garrett Funerals and Cremations' new Enduring Memories® Video Booth allows family and friends the opportunity to record and preserve on video the special stories, memories and experiences that make up the story of a life well lived—all in the privacy of our Enduring Memories booth. Each and every tribute is beautifully captured and presented on DVD. This one-of-a-kind archive can also be valuable in helping families work through the complicated emotions that follow a loss.
Creating an Enduring Memories© video tribute is simple. When making funeral arrangements, our funeral director will ask you to bring with you pictures of your loved one. The photos are used to produce a beautiful picture tribute, which plays continuously throughout the gathering at the funeral home. During the gathering, family members and friends are invited to enter the Enduring Memories® video booth to record a personal message about their loved one or friend. These recorded messages are combined with photos and music to create a touching three to five minute video that can then be played during the funeral or memorial service. Garrett Funerals and Cremations staff members are available throughout the gathering to direct guests to the booth and answer any questions they may have. Following the service, you will also receive a copy of all unedited messages left by family and friends.
Please contact us today for more information on this special keepsake item that will be treasured and cherished for generations to come.
Enduring Memories©...Stories of a Lifetime.