Alex N Sons offers round the clock funeral and ambulance services
The late Alex Sequeira went through a rough time when helost his oldest son in an accident in 1986. The entire process of going to thehospital, visiting the police station, arranging an ambulance and the funeralmade him realise the troubles and difficulties people experience while puttingtogether a funeral.
“My father did all he could to ease the pain these familieswent through,” says Sequiera’s son Cajetain who currently handles Alex N SonsCivil Contractors. That’s how Alex N Sons was started in 1990.
Apart from Alex N Sons Undertakers and Alex and Sons CivilContractors, the family-run business also offers ambulance service under thesame name, and is available 24 X 7. The Civil Contractors includes renovationof houses and buildings. “We also specialize in building grottos and renovatingcemeteries,” Cajetain adds.
The Undertakers section involves taking care of funeralsarrangements that includes dispatching corpses within India or internationally,fulfilling formalities, obtaining municipal permission, preserving the bodiesby embalming them, or having a mobile morgue wherein the body can be kept athome in a refrigerated condition, digging the grave, tomb stones, name plates,engraving and embossing stones.
“This service is as good as an essential service, and manypeople are aware of our presence,” Cajetain says, adding, “The Undertakers andAmbulance services are round the clock services, and most of the time wereceive calls past midnight.”
While giving The Goan a thumbnail sketch of the processthat’s involved in preparing a funeral, Cajetain says, “Once my brotherAugustine gets a call, his team of workers immediately proceeds to either thehouse or the hospital. We gather quick details from the family membersregarding the funeral time, place and the type of coffin preferred. We alsotake care of photography, band, floral arrangements, municipal or policeclearance and permissions, church coordination, notice/ ad in a newspaper, andalso dressing the corpse, and this finally ends with the burial.”
It was Augustine’s decision to assist his father inarranging funerals that has now trained him to become an undertaker. “It’s amatter of one’s choice. Augustine has taken this work to serve the community atlarge. At times, it does get difficult,” Cajetain says, adding, “We gatherinspiration from our dad and are very proud to take forward what he hadstarted.”
Apart from a coffin, Alex N Sons Undertakers also offerhearse service, wreaths, floral crosses, wooden crosses, iron crosses, name plates,marble/granite slabs, tomb stones, greenery around the graves, head stones andportable morgues.
Alex N Sons Undertakers has its head office in Borivalli,and branches in Mira Road, Bhayander, Uttan in Mumbai and Calangute in Goa.“Our dad had a dream of setting up Alex N Sons in Goa, and Augustine recentlyfulfilled it,” Cajetain says. However, Augustine doesn’t hesitate to offerthese services to any part of Mumbai, and has so far rendered services all overIndia.
