Obituaries

  My brother and I, and our whole family would like to thank Derek and the team of the Ellington Funeral Service, for the amazing job you did on short notice. The kindness and professionalism provided by Derek, Tommy and the team was remarkable, covered every detail perfectly, and eased the process for us. In this very sad time of our life you gifted us with a serene memory of saying goodbye to our father. We also would like to thank Avery’s Flowers for the beautiful arrangements for our father, grandparents and aunt. Thank you Derek, and the team of the Ellington Funeral Service for guiding us through this difficult time of our life. You left us with a feeling of love and peace in our hearts. Sincerely, Lisa Psomadakis

  Losing my father was one of the hardest things I've ever had to face. The level of care and compassion shown by everyone at Ellington was beyond anything I've ever experienced. Derek went above and beyond any expectation I had. He treated my entire family as if we were his own. He is truly an amazing person. I can not say enough about Derek. Some people are made to be in certain professions and Derek is one of those people. He took wonderful care of each of us but especially my father. He turned a horrible moment of my life and made it absolutely beautiful with every detail. So greatful for Derek and Ellington. I could not have made it through without them.

  Ellington Funeral Services is the best funeral home in the Charlotte Region. My family and friends loved the great attention to detail, professionalism and warm reception. During a very difficult time.. with the loss of my dear mother (RIP) the funeral home stayed so connected with me and assured me that they were standing with us to meet our funeral needs. The Funeral Director Derek Hunter was all about providing exceptional service rather than focusing on fund transfer and monetary gains. He never once asked about what will be my form of payment. The only time we ever discussed finances was the day we paid for services, which is the day before the funeral. Some funeral homes insist on deposits in advance of services and even calling life insurance companies on the client’s behalf to inquire about funds or request a claim to secure placement of your love ones. Now imagine having to deal with greedy and money conscious funeral homes during a difficult time??? Not easy going through a loss and being emotionally perplexed. Ellington was neither money-driven or insisting on their prescribed way of executing a funeral. Mr. Hunter knew how to make the customer happy by meeting the important needs first and foremost. Funerals and Weddings are deep emotional times, so businesses pry on innocence and emotional state of people, so if one isn’t careful one may be easily be duped. Now another great aspect about Ellington was that they exceeded our expectations by going above and beyond in gathering of content for the service and execution of funeral service. The funeral home was very technology savvy so when I needed video tributes and pictures all in one file they had the capabilities to handle the breath of work. Mr. Hunter made the services rendered about caring for our family and was so accommodating. He was always a step ahead in always finding ways to meet our needs. Also, going to great lengths of providing items out of their normal services for our family. More importantly, my late mother looked absolutely spectacular and thanks to Mr. Hunter for listening to my needs on how my mother likes to look on special occasion and he also added his special touch, which brought the class and elegance needed for a beautiful send off for my mother. In all of this great ordeal and pain of losing a love one I gained a friend in Mr. Hunter and I wouldn’t ever forget the love and respect he showed to me and my family. Even until this day he checks in on me and family. This shows his great kindness to humanity and not just a business service or a job to him. For this I will always recommend his services to people needing a beautiful funeral service for their love one. On behalf of me and family we express our sincere thanks to you Derek Hunter. All your efforts are greatly appreciated!!

  Derek was so kind in helping my sisters and I make all of the needed choices for my mother's funeral and burial. He never suggested higher priced items. He explained all of our choices well and gave us time to make decisions. Derek even came out to my home to talk to us and take mother's clothes for her burial. Both the visitation and funeral were held at our church and Derek did all he said he would, providing all the flowers, program, prayer cards, etc. along with his calming presence. He worked with Sharon Memorial Gardens to insure all things at the burial went as we had planned. Derek helped us through this very sad and difficult time. Many thanks.

  Wow! Professional and caring is the understatement of the year! Thank you Derek for being there for us, I have never expected that much from any funeral house!!! Wow! I still can’t believe how amazing you’ve been to us Andy my wounded family during time of need! We all need money and care to make more, but you know how to be professional and almost not caring about being paid!

  I would highly recommend Ellington Funeral Services over any other funeral home in Charlotte. I can honestly say you will not find another funeral home as empathetic, passionate, and professional. Derek, Tommy and other staff members of EFS always go above and beyond to serve families. Family owned is what makes a difference here. No push from corporate to sell products or services. Families get what they want, and more! One-on-one personable attention from staff to answer any questions, concerns, or to assist families any way possible. Offering a clean, historic facility with a chapel on the western end that will hold up to 350 people. A venue large enough to accommodate any size family and friends. No other funeral home can boast that. Convenience and top notch service above the rest!

  They deserve 10 stars. The staff at this location is more than just doing business with a funeral home, they are caring. Sensitive, and have hearts of gold. They care about you and your loved ones as if they were apart of the family. I will forever remember how Anthony and Derek treated me and my family during the sudden passing of our dear family member (F.G.N) They know what is really important in life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking care of us from the very beginning. True blessing from God.

  We could not have asked for better service from Derek and the Team of Ellington Funeral Services. They were very helpful at every point from initial contact and even after services were completed. They are very competitively priced, no hidden fees, and top notch facilities. We highly recommend! Thank you Derek and Team for making this experience as best as possible!

  After comparing prices with Ken Poe Funeral Service, Hankins and Whittington and McEwen Funeral Services, I found Ellington Funeral Service to be the most affordable in the Charlotte area with the nicest and largest facility. Also, after doing some research I learned that Hankins and Whittington is owned by a corporation out of FL and McEwen Funeral Service is owned by SCI out of Houston, TX. Ellington Is actually family owned by the original McEwen family which made it more impressive to me. My point in, check around on prices and who you are dealing with. Like me, you want someone with compassion and ties to the community and not just looking to "up" sell you and get a paycheck.

  Ellington Funeral Services is the best funeral home in the Charlotte Region. My family and friends loved the great attention to detail, professionalism and warm reception. During a very difficult time.. with the loss of my dear mother (RIP) the funeral home stayed so connected with me and assured me that they were standing with us to meet our funeral needs. The Funeral Director Derek Hunter was all about providing exceptional service rather than focusing on fund transfer and monetary gains. He never once asked about what will be my form of payment. The only time we ever discussed finances was the day we paid for services, which is the day before the funeral. Some funeral homes insist on deposits in advance of services and even calling life insurance companies on the client’s behalf to inquire about funds or request a claim to secure placement of your love ones. Now imagine having to deal with greedy and money conscious funeral homes during a difficult time??? Not easy going through a loss and being emotionally perplexed. Ellington was neither money-driven or insisting on their prescribed way of executing a funeral. Mr. Hunter knew how to make the customer happy by meeting the important needs first and foremost. Funerals and Weddings are deep emotional times, so businesses pry on innocence and emotional state of people, so if one isn’t careful one may be easily be duped. Now another great aspect about Ellington was that they exceeded our expectations by going above and beyond in gathering of content for the service and execution of funeral service. The funeral home was very technology savvy so when I needed video tributes and pictures all in one file they had the capabilities to handle the breath of work. Mr. Hunter made the services rendered about caring for our family and was so accommodating. He was always a step ahead in always finding ways to meet our needs. Also, going to great lengths of providing items out of their normal services for our family. More importantly, my late mother looked absolutely spectacular and thanks to Mr. Hunter for listening to my needs on how my mother likes to look on special occasion and he also added his special touch, which brought the class and elegance needed for a beautiful send off for my mother. In all of this great ordeal and pain of losing a love one I gained a friend in Mr. Hunter and I wouldn’t ever forget the love and respect he showed to me and my family. Even until this day he checks in on me and family. This shows his great kindness to humanity and not just a business service or a job to him. For this I will always recommend his services to people needing a beautiful funeral service for their love one. On behalf of me and family we express our sincere thanks to you Derek Hunter. All your efforts are greatly appreciated!!

  We, as a family, were very satisfied with the services provided by Ellington. The staff (especially Mr. Hunter) was beyond helpful, very friendly, and most importantly, sensitive and accommodating during our time of need.

  I was very happy with the service I received. The funeral Director ad his staff were very caring and understanding. They did an amazing job.

  One of my relatives passed and this fineurel home did a great job working with my uncle, he was so broken over his wife's passing... Thanks guys.

  The service that we received from Derek and Tommy was first-class. Losing someone is very painful and can be stressful. They were very compassionate and patient with our family. They accommodated all of our requests, even those that were last minute. I cannot say enough good things about them. I highly recommend going to Ellington Funeral Services. They definitely go above and beyond!

  If I could give this place 10 stars I would. They will honor not just your family but also your love ones and will go out there ways to serve you.

  The loss of my father in-law was very hard for me and my wife Renee but the compassion and professionalism shown by Derek Hunter made this experience so much easier. Right from the start we were treated like family and felt like he was truly genuine and not just a salesman at some corporate owned funeral home. We knew immediately we had made the right decision. Derek and Anthony as well as the rest of the staff went above and beyond to make this tough time in our lives as easy as it could have possibly been. Derek is such a natural at this. No doubt this was his calling. We are so grateful to Derek, Anthony and Ellington for all they did and continued to do by checking in with my wife occasionally just to see how she is doing. Now that is VIP service for sure! I would also like to give a big Thanks to Avery's flowers for the wonderful job he did with the casket spray as well as most of the other flowers. Everyone went on and on about how beautiful they were. He is on-site at Ellington which made it an almost effortless process.

  Normally we don’t write reviews however, the exceptional service provided by Ellington funeral service joyfully makes this review necessary. My husband and I lived in Florida for eight years having moved from New York City. My mother lived in Charlotte for 18 years. After she passed away, we had to determine among so many other things where her funeral service would take place. We reviewed various funeral service websites in order to start the process. Ellington funeral services website was in our opinion head and shoulders above the others. Being from out of state we thought the hype on the website was good, but it was better than we ever imagined. Everything on the website was accurate. When we arrive at Ellington’s to meet Derek and the team, we were as expected, in pain from our loss. Derek and the team showed professionalism, compassion, kindness. The viewing rooms were very comfortable for our family and friends. The chapel was very comfortable and dignified. One of the options we purchased was flowers, they were gorgeous in Mother’s favorite color. Derek was always very helpful to the extent he feels like family. There was no surprise cost. The funeral Service we received was the best we had ever experienced. We gladly recommend Ellington funeral services giving it the highest endorsement a business can receive from us. Feeling Blessed, to have had such an impressionable service for Mom. Thank you, Derek and Ellington Funeral Service

  When my husband was near death, I called four funeral homes. I didn't want to be caught in the middle of the night comparison shopping. Ellington was the only one that answered the phone. But that's certainly not the only reason I chose to do business with them, though; I knew after speaking with Mr. Hunter that I didn't have to look further. This kind man answered my questions calmly and compassionately and reassured me that should my husband pass on the weekend or in the middle of the night that Ellington would be there to help me. I've never had to make such arrangements before, and I truly didn't know where to begin, but Mr. Hunter went out of his way to make sure I understood the process and was comfortable with it. My husband passed shortly after at-home restrictions were put in place due to the pandemic, and as such, we chose cremation with a memorial service to be held in the future when it is safe to gather. I appreciated his flexibility and his sense of fairness, as I had offered to pay for the memorial service but he did not want to accept payment for a service not yet provided. At no time did I feel pressured to purchase anything beyond what I had initially requested, and I felt that their pricing was reasonable. When the time comes for the memorial service, I plan to hold it in Ellington's chapel and historic premises. Had my husband been able to help me with his final arrangements, I am sure he would have agreed that Ellington was the right choice.

  It is hard to understand the gravity of my words without going through this, but the loss of my little sister was unbearable and having to plan her final arrangements...devastating! It is only in the remarkable and priceless care that Derek Hunter provided that my family and I were able to come out of the ordeal with any level of sanity! His sincerity, empathy and compassion were invaluable to us. Just as his dedication to easing the process and his due diligence in handling every detail was beyond reproach! I can wholeheartedly state that this nightmare of a loss was eased by the genuine ethic, character and integrity of Derek Hunter! It would be to your disadvantage to have final arrangements planned with anyone else! I thank God Derek was brought into our family’s lives during this unspeakably painful time!

  I was immediately impressed by the gentlemen at Ellington. They could not have been more kind and respectful after my mother passed. I was solely responsible for planning her service with no experience or guidance. I was grieving but also extremely overwhelmed. After speaking with Mr. Hunter the stress and anxiety lifted. He and Mr. Sparrow were incredibly attentive and thoughtful. They seemed to genuinely care and are excellent at what they do. The historic mansion and chapel were gorgeous and suited our needs perfectly. I could not have been more pleased with their services.