Meet Our Staff

Our staff provides excellent funeral planning services

We have years of experience caring for families from all walks of life, cultures and faiths. Our unsurpassed staff and our family provide kind, caring, professional service. Each family comes to us because they know we are leaders in our profession who are dedicated to excellence in service, adhere to the highest funeral industry standards, and have exceptional integrity. We consistently earn phenomenally high customer satisfaction survey results.

Our licensed, professional staff is here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please call 510-232-6552 anytime. We will even come to you to make arrangements in the comfort of your home.

Prompt, compassionate service is always just a phone call away, where and when you need it.

Joel Vincent Garland

Ambassador /Funeral Assistant

In 1979, Joel began working as a Life Insurance Agent for United Insurance Company of America, later becoming a Sales Manager .

Joel started working for Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries in January 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.

Celina Hernandez

Managing Partner

Celina Hernandez, has worked in the funeral industry for more than 22 years as of 2020. She began working with Wilson & Kratzer in 1997, where she remained for 13 years until transferring to Greer Family Mortuary in Alameda where she became the Office Manager and worked for six years prior to her return to Wilson & Kratzer in 2017.

Celina was born, raised and has lived in the Bay Area her entire life. She attended schools in the San Pablo and Richmond areas and now resides with her own family in Pinole. Celina prides herself on helping the diverse community from which she comes from and believes no two funerals or services should be the same. Early in her career, she was nominated, and received the award for “Funeral Service Person of the Year” (2004) from the California Funeral Directors Association. She is currently Managing Partner, Funeral Arranger and a Notary Public for the Civic Center Chapel location.

When Celina is not at work, she is busy with her family of five. Investing time with those she loves and holds dearest to her heart.

Contact Us

You are welcome to call us any time of the day, any day of the week, for immediate assistance. Or, visit our funeral home in person at your convenience.