California Casket Company exists to provide a dignified alternative to the traditional funeral home. We are in business to educate the consumer about their rights in arranging for a funeral. We are dedicated to honesty and fairness in our dealings with all customers. California Casket Company is a place where you can get assistance in dealing with funerals, understanding your rights and options, what is required, what isn't required, how much things cost and understanding how the whole thing works.

We provide written material that is very helpful to families as they evaluate their options, and can provide seminars to groups regarding their rights in arranging a funeral, reducing unnecessary stress and anxiety and saving them a significant amount of money, many times up to 50% of the cost of the casket and related expenses.

I grew up in a small town, Sharon, Massachusetts. I graduated from Boston University in 1968 with a Liberal Arts degree, with an emphasis on Sociology and Math. I became a father in my senior year of college and have a son, Adam, who is 33, and a daughter Michelle, who is 31.

I became a banker with National Shawmut Bank of Boston and primarily lent on real estate, and to supplement my income, also sold homes as a real estate broker. I later became a mortgage banker with Kaufman and Broad, the largest residential builder in the world.

In 1975 we moved to Los Angeles, and in 1982 I formed my own company, The Mortgage Capital Group. This grew to a large company with 50 employees, lending approximately $3 billion on single-family homes and apartments. In 1994 I sold the company and joined City National Bank to run their residential lending department, along with 20 of my former employees.

I formed California Casket Company for three convergent reasons. First, after owning my own mortgage banking company, let's just say that the adjustment to working within a very structured environment and reporting to others who knew less than I did, was not very satisfying. Secondly and thirdly, I turned 50 and three weeks later my dad died. I really took stock of what I was doing with my life, particularly the work I was doing and wondered if it was fulfilling me emotionally.

I was certainly making a good living but it just wasn't making me feel like I was making a positive contribution in any meaningful way. I concluded that money wasn't everything or even in first place for me anymore. So, when my dad died, I took about a month off and stayed with my mother in West Palm Beach, Florida. I knew that I wanted to do something related to the elderly and southern Florida has one of the most developed industries in the world related to serving the senior market. I looked into senior housing and senior transportation in particular, but didn't make any decisions during my stay.

After returning to Los Angeles and my job at the bank, I read an ad in the Wall Street Journal about the ability to sell caskets directly to the public. I called an 800# on a Friday, around 5:30 p.m. and a fellow with a Bostonian accent answered the phone. It was 8:30 p.m. in Boston, on a Friday night and this guy answered the phone! That really impressed me. That was the beginning of me becoming fascinated by a new business opportunity that could break a monopoly and help people at the same time.

I became intrigued and excited with the thought of doing something that made a real difference to people who wanted an alternative to traditional funeral homes and their sometimes predatory practices. After going through the death of own my father, I had a real appreciation for what a family has to go through at such a difficult time. Here was an opportunity to put all of my prior experience to work in an area where there were very few participants, unlike in the mortgage business. I knew the public needed an alternative to monopolistic practices offered by the funeral home industry. What a great place for a baby-boomer who like nothing better than to be a contrarian like his dad!

The most important thing the consumer should understand about California Casket Company is that we are a place where you can get assistance in dealing with funerals, understanding your rights and options, understanding what is required and what is not required, and how much things really cost.

We guarantee you will not experience sales pressure. We are a resource to be used and we are a friendly, honest supplement to the traditional funeral home establishment.

California Casket Company can assist you with caskets, flowers, urns, headstones, gravesites, limousines, memorial programs and prayer cards. Contact us today to learn more.