Why Choose Us
Johnston & Williams Team - March 2021
Back Row - Logan Henry, Henry Johnston; Front Row - Jeremy Rigi, Logan Woody
Locally Owned & Operated
Johnston & Williams is your truly locally owned and operated funeral home. We aren't owned by a large corporation. We're not part of a group of other funeral homes with centralized, out of town management making decisions about what is best for the families we serve. We are headquartered in Ellensburg and our sole focus is caring for families in our local communities.
Onsite Crematory
Johnston & Williams Funeral Home in Ellensburg is home to Inland Crematory, the only licensed crematory in Kittitas County. From the time of the initial call through the time your loved one's cremated remains are returned to your family, the entire process of care is completed under the same roof at our facility in Ellensburg. You can take comfort in knowing your loved one won't be driven one or more counties away in order to reach the crematory.
Professional Credentials and Nationally Recognized
Henry D. Johnston is one of the few actively practicing funeral directors in the state of Washington to hold the designation of "Certified Funeral Service Practitioner" (CFSP) a designation that he earned in 2019. To initially receive this designation, the practitioner must first be a fully licensed funeral director and/or embalmer and then complete an additional 180-hour program of continuing education activities and events. To be eligible for recertification, 20 credit hours of continuing education are required annually. In addition to a career review upon initial application, credits are awarded by the Academy for work leading to personal and/or professional growth in the areas of academic courses, professional activities and community and civic participation.
Henry has also been featured nationally by both American Funeral Director magazine and Undertaking: The Podcast, highlighting his dedication to the profession.
You can read the American Funeral Director articles about Henry here. Read the September 2019 article by clicking here and a follow-up in June 2021 by clicking here.
You can listen to Henry's most recent appearance on Undertaking: The Podcast by clicking here.
Officiant Services
We understand that many families who experience a loss are not regular attendees at church. Frequently, families say they don't want to have a service because "we don't have a pastor". At Johnston & Williams, we have a dedicated group of both religious and non-religious officiants available to guide and lead your loved one's funeral or memorial service.
Expert Event Planners
Planning a funeral or memorial service has over 100 individual details that require attention for a flawless event to occur. At Johnston & Williams, we have developed a proprietary method to the way we approach these details so that your family can focus on what matters - spending time together and supporting each other without having to worry about the finite details of the service.
Our belief is if we give your family a list of more than five items that you need to handle or coordinate yourself after you leave the arrangement conference, then we're not doing our job properly. By engaging our services to help plan your loved one's funeral or memorial, you can have peace of mind in knowing that it will be done properly, with professionalism, and that no detail will be missed.
A Traditionally Modern Approach to Cremation
At Johnston & Williams, we blend the elements of a traditional funeral with the modern trend of cremation, helping your family move through the early days of the grief process in a way that we ultimately hope will be beneficial for you in the long run.
There are no shortcuts to grief and we take the time to educate your family on why and how certain elements of the traditional funeral can be used with cremation to facilitate a healing experience. Traditional elements can be utilized, even if your loved one is to be cremated, including providing an opportunity for your family and the community to say goodbye by holding a viewing/visitation; going the distance with our loved ones to their place of rest through the funeral procession, selecting pallbearers to carry the funeral ark and ultimately seeing things through as a family to the very end by placing and covering the urn in a cemetery.
All of these elements are important but we will never push or "hard-sell" you on utilizing them if your family doesn't wish to do so. We simply endeavor to give you our absolute best guidance so you can make an educated decision.
A good funeral is one that gets the dead where they need to go and the living where they need to be.
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