DaWise-Perry Funeral Services

Unfortunately our family's experience was less then good. The Director was extremely condescending and lacked compassion. On several occasions he was short with our family because he had " to leave for Vacation" after my Grandmothers funeral . He was also very critical of our photo power point presentation. Telling us how he "would have done it". I feel as though it was not his job to criticize our memories and how we chose to represent them. This person also asked a family member "Who put you in charge?" when she had questions involving the funeral. I would like to add that the supporting staff at the funeral home was very gracious and kind. It is unfortunate the owner didn't carry the same respect.

Very disappointed in the funeral services done by DaWise for my sister. We had to totally rewrite the obituary. Complete sentences were not used, it didn't flow right, and names and places were wrong. Even after we made changes, they sent it to the paper with the name of one of her son's name misspelled.
The prayer service was at the church, not at the funeral home, yet we were charged $100 for a facility fee, even though we didn't use the facility. They also tried to charge $100 for cleanup after the church, but the church told us they do not charge for this and they talked to DaWise. Family visitation was 4-5 at the church, they didn't bring her until almost 4:30!! She should have been brought to the church and everything should have been set up by 4. Also, a lady from the funeral home stayed at the church and sat by the guest book the whole time - just watching everyone. There was no point in her being there, she didn't do anything but watch people. She grabbed my sister's 3 year old grandson and scolded him for running - that was not her place to do!! They didn't bring a basket for the cards or a stand for the memorial pamphlets.
Also, the make-up was done horribly!! First it was caked on in multiple layers, making her look completely white, not at all like she looked. Her hair was curly, not at all like the picture. So we had them fix it, prior to the prayer service. They took off all the make-up and had her looking black at the prayer service. People were asking why her color was so dark, it was so bad, we had to do a closed casket for the prayer service, not at all what we wanted to do. The next day, after the make-up was supposed to be fixed, we went to check on her and it was just as bad. My sister's kids had to tell the make-up artist which make up to put on her to make her look more natural. After 3 tries, they finally had it right and she looked good for the funeral service. I know her color was not right when she passed away due to being jaundice, but they should have done a better job at this.

The guest book from the funeral home did not have any of the flower arrangements written in it or pictures taken of the arrangements in it. They even dropped off a plant at the church and left a card in a box and didn't even put it on the arrangement. We found the box and the card and had to figure out which arrangement it went to. Had we not looked in that box, we would never have known where that plant came from.
The visitation prior to the service was to be at 9:30 - They came to the church at 9:20! They were still working on hauling everything in and getting the casket set until well after 9:30. They should have been there and everything should have been set up by 9:15. Very disappointed in everything and would never recommend DaWise Funeral Home.

Lisa Knoll - Sister to Leona Kastrow

Off-Reservation Companies Disgrace Native Man's Burial
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Fort Yates, ND (Standing Rock Indian Reservation)

The Family of Arnold Walker (Deceased) entrusted the funeral service arrangements to DaWise-Perry Funeral Home in Mandan, ND. DaWise-Perry is a funeral contractor doing business on the Standing Rock Reservation.

Nacole Walker (daughter of deceased) stated that upon their initial visit to DaWise-Perry the intake person and secretary had treated the family with respect. Later, the owner of DaWise-Perry came into a meeting with the family and asked them about the services relating to the funeral. The owner of DaWise-Perry informed the family that he wouldn't be there because he was going on vacation. The owner of DaWise-Perry then stated to the family that if he wasn't able to get ahold of Tony [who performs services on Standing Rock for DaWise-Perry] he wanted to know if the family had a van. The family said they did not have a van but they had trucks. The owner said that trucks wouldn't work, that it would need to be enclosed. This confused the family and they asked what a van would be used for and the owner said that it would be used to transport their deceased father from the Church to the burial site. The family was shocked at this suggestion as they had never heard of a family having to transport their own family member, especially for services that they were paying a funeral company to do. Next, the owner asked where the Crazy Walking family cemetery was as that was the burial site. When the family told him where the location was the owner made remarks about how the location was very remote and that he had gotten stuck out there before at one of the other family member's services. This, of course, offended the family but the family was also relieved that DaWise was able to get ahold of their reservation contractor (Tony) so the family would not be required to transport their own loved one.

The family then had trouble getting the actual grave site taken care of so they had individual family members start the digging. The grave-digging was not the responsibility of DaWise-Perry. However, the grave-digging became relevant when the family of the deceased Arnold Walker began digging the grave by hand and was able to dig approximately 4feet down before reaching a place that was extremely difficult to get through by hand. Fortunately, the Standing Rock Tribal Housing Authority allowed one of their staff to use a backhoe to complete the grave and they planned to finish the digging of the grave on Wednesday (a day after the family had begun). When the staff member got to the grave site they noticed that vault had already been put in by DaWise-Perry or the vault company that they sub-contract with. This had taken place despite the fact that the grave was not completely dug and was not level, with one side being nearly half a foot deeper than the other.

So a family friend phoned DaWise-Perry and was told that the grave only needed 18 inches of dirt to cover the vault, so it was okay. Not satisfied, family members went back to the grave site later Wednesday evening to lift the vault out in order to finish digging the rest of the grave properly. When the backhoe was used to lift the vault out the family was appalled to find that the vault was covering TRASH. There were various debris including pop cans, papers and even a phone charger that was underneath the vault meant for their loved one. This trash was NOT present before the vault was installed at a remote family grave-site that the family had dug themselves up to that point, and the directions to said family grave-site were only known by the family and DaWise-Perry Funeral Home who was hired to take care of the funeral.



Had the family not gone back to dig the grave properly, they would not have discovered that the place their father chose for his final resting place would have been on top of a bunch of trash due to the disgraceful actions of those entrusted with their funeral arrangements. The family is not sure which vault company it was that DaWise-Perry contracted with, but the family feels the culprits of such despicable acts should be exposed by those who know and they should not be allowed to disrespect any other Tribal members, intentionally or negligently.

David is transparent and honest. If you want to avoid packages and mark-ups during a stressful emotional time do yourself a favor and go with DaWise-Perry.