Our History
Wake Funeral and Cremation started as a concept several years after Wake Memorial Park cemetery was founded as a consideration to serve those who were looking for an alternative to the large conglomerate choices in our area.
Understanding that people were looking for personalized attention, unique plans for their designs, and reasonably priced selections of merchandise and services, Wake Funeral and Cremation was opened in the fall of 2014 to serve the residents of Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, and Morrisville. We are locally owned and operated and our plan is to be in the vanguard of what it means to hold on to traditional values while providing modern services.
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Britt Paynter, Vice President/Manager/Funeral Director
Britt has been a Funeral Director in the Cary/Apex area for 25 years and is also a certified crematory operator. He is a graduate of Oral Roberts University and Fayetteville Technical Community College where he completed the requirements to receive his Funeral Service License. After many years of working for a large corporate-owned company, he moved to a family-owned business in Apex and built a reputation for his caring, detailed concern for what was in the best interest of those families he served. That business was purchased by the same large corporation in 2010 and after 4 years Britt decided to return to the family-oriented business model with a modern approach based on what most families were requesting and could afford. He was instrumental in forming Wake Funeral and Cremation and enjoys the freedom of being able to once again make the needs of families the priority. Britt is married and has two adult sons. You can contact Britt by calling 919-465-0989 or emailing him at [email protected].
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Brad Bailey, Funeral Director/Business Manager
Brad joined Wake Memorial Park Cemetery in 2007 and was introduced to the funeral business by working closely with local funeral homes. He has had the opportunity to work part-time with both a locally-owned funeral home and a large corporate-owned funeral home. Desiring to open a business that was able to make more decisions locally and assist families who may not want, or be able, to pay higher prices, he worked with a team of people to form a business model that provides any service that may be traditionally requested, as well as a lower overhead model to keep costs to families down.In addition to being a U.S. Navy veteran, Brad is a licensed funeral director and former member of the The North Carolina Cemetery Commission. Brad prides himself on making the customer his number one priority and building a reputation for genuine caring service. You can email Brad at [email protected] .
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Peter M. Burke, CFSP -Funeral Director
Pete Burke is a Certified Funeral Service Practitioner. The CFSP is the highest professional designation you can achieve in funeral service. Licensed to practice for over 40 years, Pete is the former Executive Director of the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service. He serves our nation as a Deputy Team Leader with the National Disaster Medical System's DMORT team, a mass fatality response system of experts in the fields of victim identification and mortuary services. He is also a certified crematory operator.Pete is married and has two grown sons, and Wake Funeral and Cremation Services is proud to have his experience and compassion as a part of our service to the community.
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Lee Phillips, Funeral Director
Lee is a native of North Carolina and a veteran of the U.S Coast Guard, serving our country for 12 years before becoming a licensed funeral director and embalmer in 1992.He and his wife Maxine reside in Raleigh
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Sally Bailey, Office Manager
Sally was born in Michigan and comes from a strong background both in sales and administrative duties. She worked side by side with her husband in a non-profit setting for 12 years while raising two children. Her responsibilities include all the financial aspects of Wake Memorial Park and Wake Funeral and Cremation Services, customer care, memorial marker designs, and maintaining the accuracy of family records. You can email Sally at [email protected]
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Caitlyn Fritsche, Funeral Assistant
Caitlyn is a native of New Orleans who relocated to North Carolina from her home in New Orleans. Her interest in funeral service brought her to our ranks and she is now the crematory manager and operator at Wake Crematory Services.
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Tiffany Giordano, Funeral Service Licensee
Tiffany joined Wake Funeral and Cremation Services in March of 2022. She is a licensed funeral director and embalmer who came to North Carolina from New York Tiffany is mom to three children.
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Digby O'Dog, Community Outreach Assistant and CLO (Chief Licking Officer)
Digby is a Aussie-doodle who joined our team in February 2018 at 8 weeks of age.He enjoys meeting and greeting our families who wish to meet him and his role will continue to grow as he does.
