Which mortuaries and cemeteries around Torrance do you deliver to?
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The ones South Bay families actually use. In town, Rice Mortuary at 5310 Torrance Boulevard in 90503, plus funeral Masses at Nativity on Engracia Avenue in Old Torrance and St. Catherine Laboure on Redondo Beach Boulevard. Outside the city, where most burials happen: Green Hills Memorial Park at 27501 South Western Avenue in Rancho Palos Verdes, which has a mortuary on the grounds; Pacific Crest Cemetery on 182nd Street in Redondo Beach; Roosevelt Memorial Park at 18255 South Vermont Avenue in Gardena; Inglewood Park Cemetery on East Florence Avenue; Holy Cross in Culver City; and Angeles Abbey Memorial Park in Compton. Name the venue in the order and the ring routes it to whichever studio is closest.
Why does Torrance send so many services out of the city for burial?
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Because the city was planned as an industrial townsite in 1911 and never platted a large cemetery of its own, so the burial grounds that serve it sit on its edges. Green Hills on the Palos Verdes slope above San Pedro is the closest and largest, a straight run south on Western Avenue; Pacific Crest is a few minutes west in Redondo Beach; Roosevelt is north in Gardena. Practically, that means a Torrance funeral often has two flower destinations on the same day — the chapel or church in town in the morning, the graveside up the hill afterward — and it is worth telling the studio if you want a piece moved between the two or a second arrangement sent.
Can flowers be placed at a graveside service rather than a chapel?
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Yes, and it is common here. Green Hills, Pacific Crest and Roosevelt all host committals on the grounds. Graveside placement has constraints a chapel drop does not: there is no lobby, so the window is narrow, and the piece must stand on grass or be handed to cemetery staff. Easel sprays need a stand; casket and cross work goes directly to the site. Put the section, plot or the name printed on the service program in the notes if you have it. Expect wind, too — the Green Hills slope is open to the ocean and gets a hard afternoon breeze, and during a fall Santa Ana a tall top-heavy arrangement will not stay upright.
What do Catholic families in the South Bay usually expect?
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A vigil or rosary the evening before and a funeral Mass the following morning, which is why sympathy flowers here often need to land twice. Nativity in Old Torrance and St. Catherine Laboure on Redondo Beach Boulevard are the parishes inside the city; St. James in Redondo Beach and American Martyrs in Manhattan Beach serve families just outside it. Standing sprays and easel pieces are conventional for the vigil and the church, and many parishes prefer arrangements that can be carried out to the cemetery afterward rather than left behind. Holy Cross in Culver City is the Archdiocese cemetery most often used from this part of the county. Ask the parish office about placement if the Mass is large.
How do Japanese-American families in Torrance and Gardena handle funeral flowers?
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With more specificity than most people expect, and it is worth asking the family before ordering. In Japanese custom the chrysanthemum — kiku — is the flower of mourning and remembrance, and white is the color: white chrysanthemum, white lily, white carnation, sometimes with a little pale green. Bright reds and festive mixes are avoided. Condolence money in a koden envelope is often the primary gift, with flowers secondary, and observances continue at the 49th day and at later anniversaries, so a second arrangement weeks after the service is not unusual. The South Bay's Japanese-American community has been centered on Torrance and Gardena for three generations, and the studios here have been building these arrangements the whole time.
I am ordering from out of state for a Torrance funeral. What do you need from me?
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Four things: the venue name, its street address, the date and start time of the service, and a mobile number for someone who will physically be there. The ring assigns the closest studio to the address you enter, so you do not need to know which shop to pick. If the family has asked for donations instead of flowers, a plant sent to the home afterward is usually the better gesture — and if you are sending to a home rather than a chapel, the residential half of Torrance is mostly single-story tracts in 90501, 90504 and 90505 where a porch drop works, though hillside and gated streets above Palos Verdes Boulevard need a gate code in the notes.
Should I send flowers to the home instead of the service?
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Often, yes — and in the South Bay the timing matters more than the choice. Flowers at the chapel are for the service; a plant or a vased arrangement at the house is for the weeks afterward, when the casseroles have stopped arriving and the family is dealing with paperwork. A peace lily, an orchid or a low mixed arrangement sent to a Torrance address seven to ten days after the funeral tends to land harder than one more piece in a crowded chapel. If the death was sudden and the family is still at Harbor-UCLA in 90502 or Torrance Memorial in 90505, wait until they are home rather than sending to a hospital waiting room.