City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Judy Mckissick
Raleigh, North Carolina
Age 71.
Died 02/09/2025.
Judy attended Sumrall High School, then later moved to Houston, Texas. In Houston, she continued her education, studying photography. She later unapologetically stole half of the garage to build a dark room where she processed and developed her own photos. She won multiple awards with her landscape photography. As commonly happens with those who like to be behind the camera, we don’t have nearly enough photos of Judy herself. However, browsing through her favorite photos was like a tour through her mind – observing with her what she found beautiful – the Scottish Highlands, colorful buildings in San Miguel de Allende, and old churches amid cities, surrounded by skyscrapers.
Judy’s greatest love in life was her dogs. She and her late husband Bob became enamored with Asta, a Lakeland terrier featured in The Thin Man movies, and she sought one out of her own. This was the beginning of a 37-year long love affair with the breed. She bred, groomed and showed Lakeland terriers for 36 years, finishing many champions. She was a founding member and served as President of the Houston Area Terrier club. She also served as President of the US Lakeland Terrier club. Her ”dog community” became her extended family and was how she met her closest friends. She leaves behind her Lakelands Tammy and Sabrina.
Judy was also well known for her sense of humor, her love of football (Go Texans!) and her fiery disposition. It defies the laws of nature how so much personality and chutzpa got stuffed into her tiny 5 foot tall, 100lb frame. We will forever miss her laugh, how she fought for us, and how intensely she loved us. We will forever miss her cheering us on loudly every time one of us had a hard road ahead. Though we won’t walk that road with her by our sides any longer, we walk it knowing that she is a huge part of all of us still. We will walk that road and be fierce for others who can’t fight for themselves as she did. We will be accepting of strays – canine and human alike – and treat them as family, as she taught us. We will laugh loudly, often, and with others, as she showed us. We will photograph whatever we find inspiring and hang those photos next to hers in an effort to beautify a world that lost a work of art when she exhaled for the last time.
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.