Hopler & Eschbach Funeral Home

12/13/2025

We were honored to be entrusted with the final care of Saeeda Ahmad, 88, of Vestal.

View Saeeda A Ahmad's obituary, contribute to their memorial, see their funeral service details, and more.

12/12/2025

Yesterday we sent an email to the office of a local religious organization.

Included in their reply was this comment: "I have always appreciated our conversations, your kindness and professionalism, and how beautifully you have worked with our grieving families. We are always glad to recommend Hopler & Eschbach whenever someone asks for a referral. WE know they are in good hands."

We are grateful to hear these words from their office staff. Over their years at work, they have interacted with many funeral homes and have noticed a difference.

We have no doubt the same can be said for many other area funeral homes - but the truth is - it can't be said for all funeral homes. In some cases there is a difference.

In the past couple of months we received thank you notes from three first time client families we served and each made a very specific point of indicating how different their experience was with our funeral home as opposed to the ones they previously had used (all within the past couple of years). As honored and humbled as we were, it saddens us to see a family use the word traumatic, painful or unhelpful in referring to their experience at other funeral homes.

When selecting a funeral home, please remember how you are treated by the funeral home staff is the most important factor in selecting a funeral home.

12/11/2025

Yesterday we made our annual donation to the Southern Tier Veterans Support Group.

The funds were raised in part by donations from community members, which the funeral home matches.

This year, we were able to raise and donate over $3,700 in cash to help support local veterans in need with cash assistance for food, rent, clothing, furniture, car repairs, eyeglasses, prescription costs, etc.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS HAPPEN.

This year we made the donation in honor of a local WWII Marine Corps veteran who has long inspired us for his service to his fellow veterans by playing Taps at funerals as part of our local veterans honor guard. The veteran is Al Rood and he turns 100 later this month.

We can think of no other person more worthy of being recognized for service to others.

IF YOU MISSED THE CAMPAIGN, you are invited to send us a check payable to the Southern Tier Veterans Support Group and mail it to us at 483 Chenango St. Binghamton NY 13901 and we will forward it to them in honor of Al Rood.

Thank you all - especially our veterans.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – A local businessman is making a donation to a grassroots veterans group in honor of a man whose served his community with distinction for decades. Kurt Eschbach…

12/11/2025

A holiday, grief and alcohol can be a very challenging combination.
If you’ve recently suffered the loss of a loved one it may be tempting to drown your sorrows in a bottle of alcohol.

Hanging out with your friends Jim, Jack and Jose may initially seem like a good way to escape your sadness but it’s one of the worst things you can do for yourself. Having a toast in the name of your loved one might sound like a nice idea but it could spiral into unhealthy coping very quickly.

Here’s why using alcohol while going through grief is a bad idea:

Alcohol is a depressant. Depression is a normal part of the grieving process. By adding a depressant to an already depressing situation, you will eventually only feel more depressed.

Alcohol can initially seem to help you escape your pain but drinking might suppress your feelings, ultimately prolonging your journey through grief.

Alcohol may numb your pain in the short term but the intensity of the grief process will probably increase as time goes on. And because alcohol is addicting and tolerance develops, you may end up drinking more and more of it to try and escape.

By drinking in an effort to avoid the pain of loss, you may end up developing something very difficult to overcome in other ways- an addiction to alcohol.

Alcohol weakens the body’s immune system. The amount of stress associated with the death of a loved one can also lower our ability to stay physically healthy and well. We do ourselves no favors by adding alcohol to our grief process.

It’s hard to know the “right” way to maneuver through the jungle of grief emotions. Keep in mind there really is no one right way to do it. Focus on what’s healthy and helpful. Steer clear from alcohol, drugs and other unhealthy and harmful ways of coping with your pain.

Seek the guidance of a grief counselor if you need help determining the best way for you to get through this difficult time.

12/10/2025

We are honored to assist with the final care of Leo Peters of Port Crane.

Share memories & support the family

12/10/2025

We are honored to have been entrusted with the final care of Scott G. Ringleben, 68, of Binghamton, NY and Dickson City, PA.

He was a devout Christian and a proud member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association.

Share memories & support the family

12/09/2025

We are honored to be entrusted with the final care of Debra A. Meder, 67, of Endicott (Town of Union).

Share memories & support the family

12/09/2025

To properly serve our client families, we necessarily have allied ourselves with any number of what we call community partners - third parties we work with to fulfill the needs of the families we are called upon to serve.

These partners include clergy, musicians, florists, cemetery staff, etc.

One such party we interact with is a volunteer at St. James Roman Catholic Church in Johnson City - Carol Hall.

We are not quite certain what her title is, but in the capacity we have worked with her she is basically the coordinator of funeral ministries at the church - which means she arranges for a Priest to officiate at the Mass, schedules the Mass time and coordinates with scheduling the organist, cantor and soloists.

She works with families to select scripture readings and musical selections, along with those who will read the scripture, offer a eulogy and present the Gifts for communion.

On many occasions she goes to the cemetery and offers assistance with the prayers of committal and at other times she presides at Wake Services and funeral services as a lay officiant on behalf of the church.

To see her at work is always special - she works hard to make certain bulletins are handed out, flowers are placed properly, that the readers have copies of their scripture readings, photographs are placed and any other number of details right down to giving out tissues and cups of water.

She is the model of kindness and thoughtfulness - a person truly living her faith in action. Work she does in the full presence of the community, but in essence work done quietly and without drawing attention to herself.

Well - despite her best efforts not to draw attention to herself, this past week someone did take notice -the Roman Catholic Bishop of Syracuse and he honored her with the Immaculata Award.

This award is given to honor parish volunteers from across the Diocese. The Immaculata award recognizes and honors “those who generously and unselfishly give of themselves to their parishes and whose love for the Church has been shown through their devotion to the Holy Father, as well as to our Diocese. They are the unsung heroes in our midst who build up our parish communities by extraordinary service in parish ministry in volunteer service.”

We can think of no person more worthy of such an award.

Congratulations Carol Hall. We look forward to working with you for many, many more years in service to our community and sincerely thank you for all you do.

12/09/2025

This is a post to "Like" and share:

An important consumer alert for seniors.

You already know the great proliferation of telephone and internet scams you face daily.

New York State is in the process of developing a tool to help protect senior citizens from these scans.

The NYS Office of the Aging plans to activate this program in 2026.

Read the story and how to access the program below:

State lawmakers want to address an increase in the financial exploitation of New York adults next session.

12/08/2025

Today in history - December 8, 1980: The killing of John Lennon.

December 8, 1980 - John Lennon, famed musician and member of the English band The Beatles, was shot and killed in the archway of the entrance to his apartment building (Manhattan's famed Dakota apartments) by Mark David Chapman.

He was cremated in a private ceremony at Ferncliff Crematory in Hartsdale, NY. To ensure privacy for the family the funeral home is said to have sent out several decoy hearses to mislead the throngs of reporters and curiosity seekers.

Rumor has long had it that Yoko scattered Mr. Lennon's ashes in a portion of New York’s Central Park near the Dakota – a place that has since become known as “Strawberry Fields.” Whether she did or whether Lennon’s ashes are still in a box under her bed is unknown. Strawberry Fields and its iconic “Imagine” mosaic serves as the unofficial site for fans wanting to pay their respects to the singer.

What is your favorite song by John Lennon or The Beatles?

12/08/2025

We invite you to a very special event to honor and remember all children who have died leaving parents behind to mourn them - the annual Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting Memorial Service.

Just days away from the darkest day of the year, this ceremony fills the world with the light of those who left us too soon.

The service locally is held at the Nimmonsburg United Methodist Church 918 Front Street Binghamton, NY 13905.

A history of the event and what to expect.

Worldwide Candle Lighting Memorial Service.

The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting on the 2nd Sunday in December unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor the memories of the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren who left too soon.

As candles are lit on December 14th, 2025 at 7:00 pm local time, hundreds of thousands of people commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon.

Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the annual Worldwide Candle Lighting (WCL), a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. TCF’s WCL started in the United States in 1997 as a small internet observance and has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held, and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes, as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died and will never be forgotten.

What to expect: A warm welcome by other parents who have lost a child. The service includes prayers, poems, words of comfort, the reading of the names of children who have died, music and culminating with the candle ceremony at 7:00 pm.

Our funeral home staff try to attend each year in support of the parents whom we have assisted through the loss of a child. We stand witness to the healing that comes out of pain and the love that overfills the church sanctuary.

For parents who have lost a child, we invite you to attend.

12/07/2025

December 7- National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day, is observed annually in the United States on December 7, to remember and honor the 2,403 Americans who were killed in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, which led to the United States declaring war on Japan the next day and thus entering World War II.

It is estimated that there are approximately 11 survivors still living today - all over 100 years of age.

So long ago.... so few veterans left. Their sacrifice will always be remembered.