Nautilus Society

Wendy F. _{on Yelp}

Sep 22nd, 2022

The team was very responsive and professional. I appreciate how sensitive and caring they were. I highly recommend them for all of your crematorial needs and grief support.

Anabel A. _{on Yelp}

Jul 19th, 2021

A family member recently passed away suddenly.  Before moving to the LA area 15 years ago, she purchased a plan with Neptune Society in Central California.  The coverage was easily transferred over to Nautilus in Lawndale with no action needed on my part.  Donna was able to work successfully with the reluctant medical staff at the hospital to obtain the information needed for the death certificate.  Everything was made as easy as it could possibly have been for me, and helped make what would/could have been an unbearable process into a tolerable one, with everything being taken care of with a week and a half after the unexpected death.  Thank you!It seems odd to write a review for a cremation/burial service, but I could not have made it through this ordeal without help.

Billy D. _{on Yelp}

Sep 20th, 2018

Donna was fantastic. My father passed away suddenly and they were able to transfer my mom's membership to my dad with no additional fee. Donna contacted me everytime there was an update and I had my father's cremated remains and death certificates approximately 2 weeks after he passed. Even though our doctor's had a couple issues signing the death Certificate, Donna helped us. When I went down to pick everything up at 9AM right when their office opened, Donna greeted me and was very nice. The total we paid was $1,650 for pickup, cremation, permit and small urn. You have to buy each death Certificate for $21, and that's the fee from LA county. Thank you very much Donna for taking care of my father and keeping us informed.

De C. _{on Yelp}

Jul 6th, 2018

I have nothing but good to say about Donna at the Nautilus Society on Hawthorne.  My mother died very suddenly and unexpectedly, with no prepaid plan in place.  Being from out of town I had no idea where to start -- so I read some reviews and saw that Nautilus was well liked and not too far from her house, so eeny-meeny-miny, I picked them.  I am so glad I did.  At this very sad, stressful, disorienting time, Donna was a terrific person to have on my side.  Not for one second did she ever try to take advantage of my emotional state to upsell anything.  She was absolutely honest and straightforward about all costs.  Knowing that I was under some time pressure (having travelled from outside the US to carry out my duties as executrix) she went out of her way to overcome delays in getting death certificates from the Coroner's office.  She stayed in touch.  She knew exactly what paperwork was needed to transport cremains by air, and made sure I had all of it.  She made sure I knew what the process was, throughout.  And through all of this very businesslike, professional, and competent activity she was also a feeling human being who showed appropriate, genuine sympathy.  My mother never believed in fancy funerals;  they gave her the willies!  She wanted to be cremated with no fuss or ceremonies, and to have her ashes scattered privately in a garden somewhere.  Thanks to Donna I was able to carry out my mother's last wishes without having to struggle against any sleazy sales pitches at a time when my spirits were at an all-time low.   Donna was compassionate without being gooey, and professional, realistic and efficient without being heartless.  It is a fine line to walk and imho she got it just right.  Nautilus Society was very much the right place for me to go -- no BS, no offensive marketing games, but a decent, caring, respectful place where Donna genuinely did her best to make such a difficult time easier for me.   Nothing can really prepare you for the loss of a loved parent.  No time will ever be the right time.  I thought I was kind of prepared, but I was kidding myself.  But it helps, when the bad moment comes, to have good people around you who can guide you through the maze of responsibilities and requirements -- which seem so overwhelming and hard to cope with at the time, when you are all shook up by grief and loss. I felt that Donna works hard to be that guide, to make things happen the way her clients need them to happen, and she's willing to put in extra effort to meet the bereaved person's needs both emotional and practical.  I have heard many nightmare stories about funeral homes and it was such a relief to find one that was honest, human, respectful, and kept things simple -- just the way my Mum wanted it.

Matthew J. _{on Yelp}

Sep 5th, 2017

There are things one discovers upon experiencing a family member's death that are annoying and weird. It's unsettling to deal with hospital coordinators who answer a call about your deceased loved one with the same vocal timbre as cable company tech support. Despite all of this, Nautilus has been an island of remembering-this-is-a-loved-one and competence in a sea of otherwise seeming apathy (minus the crematory; they were cool too). But somehow, the folks at Nautilus are able to project both "we care" and "we've got this handled." That means a lot. My father was prescient enough to coordinate with Nautilus before his passing. Despite most of the expenses being pre-arranged and prepaid - meaning Nautilus had no real need to compete for my "business" - my coordinator at Nautilus, Donna Hilley, has a touch that's reassuring, adept, and somehow telegraphs "I've got your back. Don't worry." She will get your stuff taken care of, while also reminding you she cares. I have no idea how she's able to do it. I can't even project that mindset to my pets, let alone humans experiencing grief. Look, it's not like I've compared a ton of funeral/cremation coordinators head-to-head (and I hope no one ever has to). But the folks at Nautilus, or at least Donna, are good at what they do. Want to grieve while knowing loved ones' logistics (of which there are many) are being managed by those who are good at what they do? Use Nautilus.