Borthwick Mortuary

More than 100 years in Honolulu

Borthwick Mortuary has served the people of Hawaiʻi since 1916. We are honored to be a member of our community and have the opportunity to build lasting relationships with the families we serve. We are a team of dedicated professionals here to assist you during a significant time.

There are many steps in planning a memorial, and we are here to guide you through the process. Whether you are planning a simple or elaborate funeral service for a loved one, veteran or dignitary, we offer a variety of options to help you create a memorable ceremony. We believe that funeral services should reflect the lives of those being honored and strive to create meaningful tributes for those who have meant so much to family, friends and the community.

Personalized funerals, modern funeral facilities

It is our goal to help you discover unique ways to put personal touches on your loved one’s funeral or memorial service. Our hope is that we can work with you one on one to recognize the personality of your loved one and, in turn, develop a memorial fitting for remembrance.

Our facility provides a comfortable setting for small to large services and includes four chapels: Makai, Mauka, Maunakea and Vineyard. Each chapel accommodates more than 150 guests. The Maunakea/Vineyard Chapel seats up to 400. Each chapel has audiovisual equipment to play your video slideshow and music selection. We also have easels and a keyboard available upon request for families who would like to display photos or have a pianist play.

In addition, our chapels were designed to accommodate both religious and nonreligious ceremonies, including Christian, Chinese, Japanese Buddhist, Laotian Buddhist and Taoist services. We also have experience with the customary practices of the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and LDS faiths, as well as working with all branches of the U.S. military.

Lanai spaces, catered receptions and cars

All four chapels have an adjacent reception/lanai area for catered events following a service. Families may also use this area to provide light refreshments during the visitation. When using our reception/lanai area for catered events, our beverage station includes water, juice, coffee and hot tea. We also offer catering services to help make the planning process a little easier.

We also take pride in having families represented with an up-to-date fleet of vehicles, which is replaced every few years. Your family’s comfort is very important to us.

Please contact us to plan a celebration of life for your loved one.

Cremation services

We specialize in cremation services that honor loved ones in personalized ways, and families love our transparent pricing. With expertise in scattering ashes and a friendly team who pays attention to every detail, we provide service that is second to none.

More and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burial, but most aren’t familiar with the many options:

• a cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind.
• a funeral with your loved one present, followed by cremation.
• a cremation followed by a scattering, cemetery memorialization or celebration of life—or all three.

For those who wish for a more momentous memorial, Neptune Memorial Reef is an underwater cremation garden off the coast of Florida. A Celestis Memorial Spaceflight takes ashes into space for a little while or forever.

There are many options for cremation—and they're not all equal. Here's what you can expect when you choose us for your loved one's cremation:

• Custody of care guaranteed. Our custody-of-care program helps safeguard the identification of your loved one from the time we bring them into our care until the time we return them to your family. We check, cross-check and check again, every step of the way.
• Exclusive custody of your loved one. We operate a private, on-site crematory and work with trusted partners. Once your loved one is in our custody or that of a trusted partner, they’re in our care until they’re returned to your family.
• Licensed, certified, conscientious staff. All Dignity Memorial crematory operators are licensed and certified by Cremation Association of North America, or CANA. Only one person at a time is cremated, and the cremation chamber is thoroughly cleaned before the next person is cremated.

Read more about our cremation services.

History

Borthwick Mortuary has more than a century of tradition on Oʻahu. Our history began when William Borthwick, an established mortician from Seattle, came to Honolulu in 1914.

In 1916, he established Borthwick Mortuary on Chaplain Lane and Fort Street in Downtown Honolulu. By 1925, there was already a need for a larger facility. It was then that Borthwick Mortuary moved to Nuʻuanu and School streets.

Several years later, in 1932, the need for a newer and larger complex dictated another move. At this time, Borthwick Mortuary located across the street.

That same year, William turned the mortuary over to his oldest son, James Harold, who operated it until his death in 1943. Then, William’s younger son, William Borthwick Sr., took over leadership. In 1958, William Mendel Jr. succeeded his father as manager of Borthwick Mortuary.

Present location

In 1960, the Hawaiʻi state government began the development of Hawaiʻi’s first freeway (Lunalilo Freeway) and purchased the Borthwick Mortuary property. Once again, Borthwick Mortuary relocated, that time to our present location at Maunakea and Kukui streets.

Since then, we have made a variety of renovations to the funeral home. Our latest renovation included improvements to restrooms, sectioning of the lanai areas, and repainting and installing new carpet throughout the facility.

Today, Borthwick Mortuary is a member of the Dignity Memorial^® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers. As a Dignity Memorial provider, we are able to offer exclusive benefits such as our Relocation Protection Program.

At Borthwick Mortuary, it is our promise to continue our longstanding tradition of serving Hawaiʻi’s families with the same compassion and respect we have shown for more than 100 years.

Best of Hawaii

Borthwick Mortuary has been recognized year after year as a top service provider in Hawaii. In 2022, we were a finalist in KITV's Best of Hawaii viewer poll, in which the station's audience voted for their favorite local businesses.

The media outlet recognized Borthwick Mortuary for working with families to make final arrangements in advance and relieve the financial and emotional burdens they often face when a loved one dies. It's just one way we serve families before, during and after a memorial takes place.

Find out what you need to know about prepaid funeral plans.

Community involvement

Borthwick Mortuary is dedicated to serving the community. We are honored to share in the rich history of Hawaiʻi and preserve our unique cultural traditions. As a member of the community for more than a century, we are always looking for ways to give back and stay involved.

Borthwick Mortuary is a proud partner of the Keep the Spirit of ’45 Alive initiative, which focuses on preserving the history of World War II and honoring the sacrifices of the brave men and women of The Greatest Generation. We partnered with the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific to organize a community event for the 70th Anniversary of WWII and participate in the annual Pearl Harbor parades.

In addition to partnering with various veterans organizations, we are a sponsor of the American Diabetes Association and CrimeStoppers Honolulu to help promote health and safety in our community. We also support local schools and going green initiatives throughout Oʻahu.

Public servants program

In recognition of the courage and selfless service of those who keep our communities safe, Dignity Memorial providers offer honorable funeral tributes at no cost for career and volunteer law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency services personnel who fall in the line of duty. In addition to providing funeral, cremation and burial services, the program extends counseling services to their families.