Sanders Funeral Home, Humboldt Cremation Reopen Under Bryan Carnahan and Joel Casillas

Sanders Funeral Home and Humboldt Cremation & Funeral Services in Eureka have reopened under operators Bryan Carnahan and Joel Casillas, restoring local capacity after abrupt closures left the county short on funeral and cremation services. Sanders is accepting new clients following a few months of renovations, and the building’s pink exterior "will soon be painted gray."

The closures last April of three Humboldt County funeral homes left families with few local options and drove extra demand to nearby providers. Those closures included Sanders, Humboldt Cremation & Burial Services in Eureka, and Paul’s Chapel in Arcata, which forced Goble’s Fortuna Mortuary in Fortuna and Ayres Family Cremation in Eureka to absorb caseloads previously handled across the county.

Carnahan, who owns Goble’s Fortuna Mortuary and has operated it for about ten years, described the strain on his operation after the closures. "When he closed, it was like: Boom, closed. We had about a week’s warning," Carnahan said. "It got so busy at Goble’s that we almost couldn’t handle things. … We were just running wild [and] putting in too many hours. Now that Sanders is open, everything has settled down. We’ve hired more staff, including Joel’s sister and brother-in-law."

Sanders’ reopening includes operational arrangements for families with prior commitments: the funeral home will accept prearrangements made through Paul’s Chapel in Arcata. Carnahan also said the team has added staff since reopening, though full staffing lists and union-status details were not released. Renovations at the Sanders building have been visible to passersby; a recent photo caption noted the exterior repaint to gray as part of the work.

The new operating team pairs a local mortuary owner with an out-of-area partner. Carnahan is based in Fortuna, while co-operator Joel Casillas is identified as owner of Casillas Funeral Homes in the Coachella Valley, creating a factual tension with some descriptions that call the businesses "under new local ownership." Reports do not specify whether Casillas has relocated to Humboldt County or will manage operations on-site.

Former owner Guy Saxton, described as a Pennsylvania-based businessman, has said the closures were tied to long-term financial pressures from a "migration to cremation." "Over the past 20 or 30 years, with the migration to cremation, many funeral homes have closed in California, so there has been a drift towards cremation and a closing of traditional funeral homes," Saxton said; he also characterized the businesses as losing money and not taking new clients before they closed.

Public listings for Sanders include consumer-facing price items that may predate the ownership change: an Everloved listing shows basic services at $2,400, transportation at $500, embalming at $800, staff for viewing or visitation at $300, and staff for funeral or memorial service at $400. It is not yet clear whether those rates or other service offerings have changed under Carnahan and Casillas, and transaction details such as sale price, licensing updates, and the exact reopening date were not disclosed. With Sanders accepting new clients and Paul’s Chapel prearrangements being honored, the reopening has eased pressure on Goble’s and Ayres, but several ownership and operational questions remain.