Culture / Newsy

Funerals Without Limits and True White Glove Treatment — How Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Grants Every Wish With Dignity

The Last Thing to Put On Your Bucket List

BY // 10.08.21

If you wanted a pink elephant at your funeral service, you could have that. What’s more? “Nobody would say a word. Nobody would ever know if you didn’t want them to,” Jerry Reyes, vice president and COO at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors, says.

That kind of above-and-beyond special service and confidentiality is a hallmark of the firm and just one aspect of Geo. H. Lewis Sr.’s vision for his business when he became partner at Lewis & Fortinberry in 1936. Within a year, Lewis had purchased Fortinberry’s share of the funeral home and Geo. H. Lewis & Co. was born.

This Houston funeral home has become legendary for its dignified, white-glove treatment of every family and every guest.

A Vision Spanning Decades

Lewis’ mission was singular: “To provide the highest quality service and merchandise available in the funeral profession by the most compassionate, professional and dedicated funeral directors and staff.” Eighty years later, that ideal is apparent in each phone greeting, black car pickup and catered event. It is showcased in artisan-crafted cremation urns and custom-carved caskets, as well as professionally produced tribute videos, engraved Crane & Co. stationery suites and custom floral arrangements from a top Houston florist. It all comes together to create an unparalleled experience.

Even before you step through the doors of the building at 1010 Bering Drive, you get a sense of the service excellence and attention to detail that lives up to the discerning standards of its founder — and its clientele. Celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, the business that became Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors when Lewis’ four sons joined their father as partners has long been Houston’s most prestigious funeral and cremation provider.

The guiding concept is to operate the funeral home like a five star hotel, according to president and CEO J. Douglas Drummond. With a uniformed doorman, complete with white gloves and monogrammed shirt cuffs, a brass bellman cart and a full-service concierge team ready to arrange everything from flower orders to private jet service, it is equal parts sophisticated and comfortable.

A unique feature
Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors is all about white-gloved service.

From the grand foyer to the cozy library, from the sunlit veranda to the 350-seat Jasek Chapel with soaring coffered ceiling and a Steinway piano, the elegant venue has been the choice of Houston pioneers, business leaders, politicians, philanthropists, celebrities and so many other elite residents. The funeral home has cared for many famous people, including President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Their portraits hang in the parlor.

However, services don’t have to take place at the funeral home or even in Houston. The staff has traveled across the country — and across the globe — to assist families with discerning taste who appreciate the attention to detail that only Geo. H. Lewis can provide.

Celebrating Extraordinary Lives in Extraordinary Ways — the Geo H. Lewis Way

The perfect balance of style and substance can seem rare in today’s fast-paced world. The extra measure of thought and effort that goes into every little thing is especially important when a family is enduring one of the hardest parts of life and the team at Geo. H. Lewis strives to make sure every funeral and memorial reflects the life being honored.

Staff spent time with each family, getting to know them and the loved one they’ve lost in order to give the family a worry-free experience tailored to meet their needs. From the moment they walk through the door for the first time up to months after a service is over. Enduring relationships are another hallmark of Geo. H. Lewis, which often serves multiple generations of families in Houston and beyond.

Depending on a loved one’s requests and a family’s desires, a service might include a swanky cocktail party with vintage wines or signature drinks, an orchestral concert by Houston Symphony musicians, or a full-service lunch followed by a dove release.

A unique feature
Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors make a well known difference in Houston. Their logo means something.

Plus Geo. H. Lewis makes arrangements for both traditional burials and cremations. Whether it’s a Pacific Ocean scattering with a champagne toast, a green burial in a woodsy preserve, ashes sent into deep space via a Celestis Voyager spaceflight, or entombment in a private mausoleum at the family ranch, the staff provides legendary service without limits.

“It’s not what most would consider an average funeral experience,” Reyes says. “But why shouldn’t a funeral home rise to the level that many Houston families are accustomed to?”

It’s a good question, and Geo. H. Lewis answers it in the most brilliant of ways.

To learn more about Geo. H. Lewis & Sons Funeral Directors and all the white glove services it offers, visit its full website.

X
X