Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home & Forest Park Lawndale — Local services in Houston

During this season of giving and miracles, I want to take a moment to show my gratitude for a special angel that works at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home and Cemetery. This angel's name is Cami M.-G. and she has worked tirelessly to assist me in finding the grave marker of a WWII Veteran that served with my grandfather in the 155th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron. His squadron and I have been trying to locate him for decades without any luck until this past year. I started receiving dreams that his story was not finished or told, so I began to search deeper to find his final resting place. We had a breakthrough this summer when he was added to findagrave.com by a volunteer. His page did not include a photo of the grave marker, so I started the process of contacting Forest Park and I was placed in the wonderful care of Cami. She worked with me for over a month to locate the original files from 1948 to verify if he was buried there and to determine if a marker was ever purchased. With her dedication, I was able to follow the paper trail which let me know that he is buried there and should have a marker. She also found the original obituary that led me to find his wife, daughter, and grandchild. With this genealogy information, I was able to update Dickinson's family genealogy tree in FamilySearch.com, which has assisted his other family members in finding other relatives. With his family tree updated, it led to another amazing, accidental discovery that I am a distant cousin to him on my paternal grandmother's side of the family. Cami worked with the groundskeepers to help locate the missing marker and they were unsuccessful the first two times. Dickinson's squadron volunteered to cover the funds for replacing the marker, if the cemetery would approve. Cami worked with management to help us find a solution for the missing marker. A final attempt was made to locate the marker by another groundskeeper, who was successful in finding the marker. With the help of a shovel, he found the marker had settled into the ground and was buried down in the ground under dirt and grass. It was an emotional day and Cami sent me updates with photos of their finding and progress. She quickly put in a work order for the marker to be leveled and cleaned. The groundskeepers worked quickly and the marker was leveled and cleaned on November 8, 2021, just in time for Veteran's Day. Cami has been a miracle worker and an angel on earth as she helped me find this amazing Veteran. He died in a plane crash that should have been my grandfather on March 15, 1945. They went to flight school together and served together in the Europe Theater of WWII. The flight schedule was changed at the last minute that day and Dickinson took to the skies instead of my grandfather. He was shot down by a German fighter plane and crashed on the runway in front of my grandfather. My grandfather wrote stories about that day and they are included in a family book so that our family will never forget this man. My heart is overflowing with gratitude for Cami and her relentless work to help make my dream a reality; and for finding his grave marker so he will always be remembered. Thank you Forest Park Cemetery for your help. Thank you Cami for never giving up and for answering my messages even when you were scheduled so tightly with your own work obligations. May you be guided and protected with angels always for your angelic work done...

I cannot say enough positive comments regarding the service we received from Forest Park Lawndale. The people are amazing!

We wanted the best for our mother and grandmother. The guidance, patience, understanding and support has been amazing.

Thank you so much Adrian, a great funeral director! Adrian was there for our family throughout the complete process. From the initial funeral meeting to the burial marker. The funeral was perfect. Everything we asked for we received. I asked Adrian for a white hearse and Adrian provided a white hearse. Adrian always showed compassion and understanding. When I was not sure about a decision, Adrian would give helpful advice and guidance. A few years ago with a different group of people I was told there was not enough room on the burial marker for what I wanted to put on it. I told Adrian about the situation and asked Adrian what he thought. Adrian suggested a different option and it worked. We had a dove release scheduled for the burial but the release had to be postponed because of rain. Adrian suggested another date close to our mother's birthday. These are a few examples. Adrian always responded promptly to any questions and provided answers. Thank you so much Adrian for being there for our family!

Thank you so much to Lilliana and Daniela for a great burial marker. Lillian, your expertise was great in designing a beautiful marker for our mother. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We did not feel rushed to finish the marker. Lilliana said she wanted to make sure the burial marker is what the family wanted. When meeting with Lilliana she was very supportive. Lilliana would always respond promptly to any question and provide answers. In addition, Lilliana is always responsive when I see something in the cemetery that needs taken care of. Thank you Daniela for ordering the marker and following up on the picture. Thank you Lilliana and Daniela for making a very beautiful marker for our mother.

Thank you Gloria for taking my payments and always making my day better. Gloria is always so pleasant. Whenever I make a payment we talk for a little bit. Gloria always has a smile on her face. Thank you Gloria for your smiles, the small talk and always inviting me to the different activities. It is always nice to see you at the activities.

Even when walking into the building the ladies at the desk are always pleasant.

I am thankful that mom is buried at Forest Park Lawndale and I will be buried there as well.

You are all truly amazing, caring and wonderful people.

Thank You Tanna Malveau Florine...

COMPLAINT: Took over a year to get a flower vase placed correctly over my parent’s grave marker.

1. Feb 16, 2023 Placed an order with Elsie Hernandez and paid for a flower vase to be centered OVER the Last Name of my parent's grave marker.
2. June 21, 2023 (See 1st photo) The flower vase was incorrectly placed UNDER my mother’s name. WHY would you place the vase UNDER one person’s name on a family grave marker? Went to the office and they assigned us with a counselor to get the flower vase correctly repositioned OVER the Last Name of my parent’s grave marker. Texted the counselor photos of the problem, photos of how it should be placed and she said it would be repositioned.
3. Jan 11, 2024 The flower vase still has not been repositioned. We were assigned to speak with a 3rd counselor (J. Oscar Cuellar - Family Service Counselor). Texted him photos. He agreed the vase was not positioned correctly and stated he would get this corrected.
4. Feb 2, 2024 Spoke with J. Oscar Cuellar and he stated would check on the work and update me by tomorrow. Did not get a text or call back from Cuellar.
5. Mar 13, 2024 Called Forest Park and this time insisted on speaking with a supervisor or a manager (not another counselor). Spoke with Deborah (Manager with Forest Park) about the problem. She sent someone to inspect the placement of the vase at my parent's grave site. After inspection, she texted that she will have someone relocate the vase “just how I had initially asked for" and will get back with me first thing tomorrow morning.
6. Mar 15, 2024 @ 2:24 pm No update from Deborah. Called & Deborah was not in the office. Will have Cynthia Ramon (another Manager on site) call me back. Cynthia Ramon never called me back.
7. Mar 18, 2024 @ 3:25 pm Finally, Deborah called back with news that the vase had been repositioned and then texted me a photo of the work done (See 2nd photo). Stated grass will be added to fill in gaps around the grave marker but unable to give a timeframe for completion of work. Hope they did not lose the silk flowers I placed in the vase (Deborah stated she was unable to help if...