Who We Are

Our professional staff has years of experience caring for families from all walks of life. We are leaders in our profession, with dedication to service and professional integrity.

• When we sit down with a family, our shared goal is to create a fitting, memorable and affordable service for their loved one. We offer them a wide variety of services and products, as well as a wealth of creative ideas and suggestions. Together, we'll design a memorial or funeral service that suits their needs now, and in the future. Families who come to us know that years from now, they will have deep peace-of-mind because in coming to us, they've done their best to honor their loved one.

• History of Wilson & Kratzer

  “Growing with our community” has been the history of Wilson & Kratzer since its inception.

  

   

  The business was originally known as Smallwood Parlors when Aubrey Wilson purchased the business and occupied a 25-foot store room on Macdonald Avenue near 8th Street. In 1921 Aubrey Wilson acquired the property at 7th and Bissell and with the investment funds from his partner C.C. Kratzer, well-known automobile dealer in Richmond, the name became Wilson & Kratzer Funeral Home. In 1926 Aubrey Wilson was elected coroner of Contra Costa County.

  

   

  In an article written by Aubrey Wilson in 1926 he said “The funeral home idea on which our own place of business is built, is the newest idea in the methods of funeral conduct. It is based on the belief that the old fashioned gloomy exterior and interior of a funeral parlor was not in keeping with the best ethics of funeral direction… the modern work of a director is to comfort as well as bury. … if he is to be a success in this difficult task, the whole of his establishment must minister to the desired end. With these ends in view the Wilson & Kratzer funeral homes embodies in its exterior and interior an atmosphere of home rather than of office or shop. When you enter our facilities you are immediately struck by the quiet dignity of our establishments.”

   

  

  In 1930 Aubrey Wilson acquired sole ownership. In 1943, he relinquished the reins of management and placed them in the experienced and efficient hands of his son Francis L. Wilson along with the co-partnership with his sister Mrs. Audra Brown. Francis Wilson was also the Deputy Coroner of Contra Costa County from 1942 to 1965.

   

  

  The next mortuary that was built was at 616 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito. Francis L. Wilson, son of the owner, assumed charge of the El Cerrito mortuary.

Our Valued Staff

• 
  Akim Simpson, Apprentice Embalmer/Funeral Assistant

  After graduation in 2006 from Mortuary College, Akim served her internship at Wilson & Kratzer’s Connelly and Taylor Chapel. She is currently serving her apprenticeship at Wilson & Kratzer’s Civic Center Chapel.
  
  Akim said “I love to serve and help the community. Customer satisfaction is what motivates me to strive to be the best. I am proud to be part of a great tem of co-workers and under the leadership of great management, where we all work hard to please the families we serve.

• 
  Alex Gaylor II, Funeral Director/Embalmer

  Alex is a native of Missouri and has a career in the funeral industry which spans more than 30 years. After moving to Richmond, California in 1976, and upon graduation from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Sciences in 1977, he began his career as an embalmer and has held various positions throughout the Bay Area. He is a California licensed funeral director and a member of the California Funeral Directors Association.
  
  Alex is active in the community. He is a member of: Elks Lodge #559, Epsilon Nu Delta Mortuary Fraternity and Ujema Masonic Lodge #35, San Pablo Chamber of Commerce, Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

• 
  Barbara Rosales, Funeral Director

  Barbara joined Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries March 1, 1999 after working for twenty-two years in the financial field. She became a licensed funeral director in July 1999. In 2001, Barbara saw the need and became a Notary Public.
  
  In 2008, she received her pre-need insurance license and looks forward to helping families understand the need to have their funeral arrangements in order. She is the former secretary for the San Pablo Chamber of Commerce, and an advocate for the improvement of relations between the public and the death care industry.
  
  

• 
  Mariano Munoz, Funeral Director/Embalmer

  Richard Munoz grew up in Santa Barbara, California. Having been in the funeral industry since 1989, Richard has a Director and Embalmer's license in both Arizona and California. He is one of our newer acquisitions with the Carriage Team in Northern California. Richard is a member of the San Pablo Chamber of Commerce and is also involved in several Catholic ministries at his local parish. Mr. Munoz has a great passion for life and in serving his families.

• 
  Dennis W. Braxton, Funeral Assistant/Ambassador

  Dennis was born and raised in Richmond, CA and graduated from Kennedy High School. He was raised in the McGlothlin Temple COGIC and attended Charles Harrison Bible College. His interest in music began at age 7 and is now an accomplished pianist and organist. At 13 he started playing the organ for North Richmond Missionary Baptist Church and still plays monthly as well as weekly at Bethelem Missionary Baptist.
  
  Dennis worked for 16 years for Safeway in Berkeley and has recently joined Wilson and Kratzer Mortuaries after 9 years with Fuller Funeral, Inc. in Richmond. He has two sons and a grandson in Dallas, Texas. In his spare time he enjoys shopping, fine dining and traveling.

• 
  Sally Githens, Administrative Assistant

  Sally was born and raised in Northeastern Colorado and moved to California after college. With her degree in fashion merchandising, she worked as the assistant manager at Mission Apparel for several years. After a move to Oregon, she managed an OB-GYN office in San Pablo for many years. She is a licensed esthetician and volunteered for the Look Good-Feel Better cancer program. She recently joined Wilson and Kratzer Mortuaries staff and is doing all the personalized printing and videos for the familes in our care. She gets much enjoyment from working with and helping the families.
  
  Sally is the mother of two children, one son, one daughter and one granddaughter, all of Antioch, CA., three dogs, 6 grand dogs and 2 grand cats.

• 
  Gwen Rezentes, Ambassador /Funeral Assistant

  Gwen is a resident of Pinole. She was born and raised in the Richmond / San Pablo area. She has been “on-call” with Wilson & Kratzer since 1998. She is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Pinole where she serves as a “Eucharistic Minister” and is a member of the “Cursillo Community”. Before coming to Wilson & Kratzer, she managed a local Pediatric Practice for eighteen years and was then a Customer Service Supervisor for a local Medical Corporation. She is currently serving as the Captain of her Pinole Neighborhood Watch program.

• 
  Joseph Kyle Newkirk, Operations Manager/Funeral Director/Embalmer

  Joe was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. After serving his country in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, he was honorably discharged in 1972 and moved to California. He started working with Wells Fargo Bank while attending Laney College to obtain his AA in Management & Supervision, graduating in 1979. He continued his career with Wells Fargo Bank for 23 years in Management. In 1993, he decided to switch his career path and began attending the San Francisco School of Mortuary Science and graduated in 1994 with his AA degree. He has been with Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries since 1993 and now holds the position of Operations Manager/ Funeral Director / Embalmer, overseeing the daily activities for the three locations: Civic Center Chapel, Chapel of the Mission Bells & Hosselkus Chapel.
  
  Joe has been married for 24 years. He and his wife, Anita, raised their four children in the Richmond / El Sobrante area and plan on retiring someday back in Florida. For the meantime, Joe takes great pride in serving the community he has become well known “as the man to see”, at Wilson & Kratzer Mortuary.

• 
  Joel Vincent Garland, Ambassador /Funeral Assistant

  In 1979, Joel began working as a Life Insurance Agent, and is a Sales Manager for United Insurance Company of America.
  
  Joel started working for Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries in January of 2007 as an Ambassador/Funeral Assistant and plans to continue working for Wilson & Kratzer long after retiring from the Insurance field.
  
  Joel was born in Tallulah, Louisiana, and moved to Oakland, California in 1955. He is a graduate of Castlemont High (class of 1967) and Merritt Jr. College (class of 1970). He also spent one year at the University of California, Berkeley.
  
  

• 
  Judy Lee, Accounting Administrator

  Judy is the Accounting Administrator for all of the West County Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries. In addition to her accounting work, she also creates our promotional advertisements, trains staff, handles the web-site, and does a wide variety of work as needed including working in the prep-room and on funerals.
  
  In addition to her dedication to her family, she is also dedicated to community service. She is the elected Treasure for the City of Pinole, Director of Judson Homes, Senior and Disabled Housing Project, a member of the San Pablo Chamber of Commerce and the Pinole Historical Society. She has been an active member of MacArthur Baptist Church in San Pablo since 1960 and has served on the boards of many organizations including: Pinole Crime Prevention, Soroptomist International, Discovery Center, Pinole Friendship Commission, and many more.

• 
  Lisa Martinez Torres, Administrative Assistant

  Lisa began working with Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries in 1998 part-time assisting the preneed department with miscellaneous items and assisting at the Chapel of the Mission Bells location. It wasn’t too long after that she was offered a fulltime position and has been with the company now for ten years. Lisa is the lead administrative assistant at the Chapel of the Mission Bells and takes great pride in all that she does. If she’s not too busy handling doctors, she’s assisting in the Chapel. Many families remark on her kind and thoughtful assistance.
  
  Lisa was born and raised in the Bay Area and she graduated high school in 1980 and raised her four children, now grown and ranging in ages from twenty-eight to twenty. She is also the proud grandmother of three boys ages seven to four. In 1998, after the death of a very close family friend, she and her husband, Joe, became the guardians of a seven year old boy whom they have continued to raise as their own. He is now almost seventeen. Married to her husband for twenty-three years, they enjoy taking weekend drives and spending time with each other when they are not busy spoiling their grandchildren.

• 
  Lynda Bishop, Administrative Assistant

  Lynda began working with Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries in 2007 after working for fourteen years in customer service and just loves to work with people. She is very kind and compassionate by nature and loves to assist with all phases of the funeral business. She is a very active member of Hillcrest Baptist Church in El Sobrante and loves working with the children in Sunday School and Bible School.
  
  Lynda values her time with her family. She is married and has one son at home and her oldest son and his wife have given her a beautiful grandson and grandaughter. Having lost a young daughter in 1996, she personally knows how difficult the situations are when families call or come in for services at Wilson & Kratzer. She gives her full heart and soul to every family served.

• 
  Marcia Muwwakkil-Gatlin, Ambassador /Funeral Assistant

  Marcia, a wife, mother of three and grandmother of six, entered the work force in 1981. Her work experience included management in retail, food service and hotel. She is also an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
  
  After the loss of her grandson, daughter and mother and being a cancer survivor, she felt she had the capacity to work in the mortuary service field at Wilson & Kratzer. In her spare time, she enjoys ballroom dancing, traveling and social event coordinating.
  
  Marcia, a resident of San Pablo, California, grew up in the nation's capitol of Washington, D.C., moving to California in 1969

• 
  James McDaniel, Managing Partner

  Jay was born in Anchorage, Alaska. He served his country in the United States Navy from 1983 to 1987 before choosing his career in the funeral industry. Jay has been a funeral director and embalmer for over 23 years and enjoys serving his community in these capacities. Immediately following his graduation from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service, he and his wife Jacquie moved their family to northern California in order for him to pursue his career. In 2005, Jay and his family moved to the East Coast where he worked as an Area Director of Operations in Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Martinsburg, West Virginia until his recent return to California and the Richmond area. Although his time in Richmond has been short, he truly feels at home in this community. Jay currectly serves as the Managing Partner for Wilson and Kratzer Mortuaries, where he oversees the daily operations for the three locations: Civic Center Chapel, Richmond, Chapel of the Mission Bells, San Pablo and Hosselkus Chapel, Crockett as well as Connolly & Taylor in Martinez.
  Jay has been married for 26 years. He and his wife, Jacquie have two adult children, Jakob and Jascha. Jakob is currently serving in the United States Army as an Arabic Linguist, stationed in Texas. Jascha recently followed her father to Northern California and is working as an Ambassador at Connolly & Taylor, Martinez, Higgins, Antioch and Quimet in Concord. Jay is extremely pleased with his new position as the Managing Partner of Wilson and Kratzer
  Mortuaries and looks forward to helping it continue to be the primary funeral home provider in the West Contra Costa area.