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My name is Gene Whatley Jr. and I am the current President and owner of Whatley Funeral Planning. I have an extensive background in the funeral prearrangement industry here in San Diego.
Being a second generation San Diegan, I was born and raised in the suburb of Bonita. For two years while attending Bonita Vista High School, I worked at La Vista Memorial Park. I attended San Diego State University and graduated in 1989. Shortly after that in 1990, I started working for my father selling funeral insurance for different mortuaries. I have been active in the prearrangement industry for 33 years and earned multiple “Salesman of the Year” awards.
In 1998, I married my wife, Linda Lee, and we have been together for 29 years now. We have two children – my daughter Leela, and my son Logan. We are carrying on the business of setting up preplanned funeral services with mortuaries all over Southern California. We offer Funeral Planning, Prearranged Funerals, and Cremation Planning services. My wife and I specialize in helping veterans understand and maximize their free burial benefits and set up funeral services for them. We assist people in setting up pre-plans with local mortuaries to carry out wishes when clients pass away. This lets them prepay to lock in prices at today’s costs for the same services in the future. This way, all the family has to do when their loved one passes away is contact the contracted mortuary and the wishes will be carried out as instructed, all while being prepaid to ensure financial security during a difficult time.
Gene Whatley Sr., came to San Diego from Georgia to serve in the U.S. Navy. While stationed here in 1956, he met my mom, Ouida, who grew up in San Diego. After serving his country, and being honorably discharged from the Navy in 1959, my parents were married in 1961 and that’s where our story begins.
My father was first introduced to the preneed cemetery and funeral business by his brother, Terry. In 1969 my father went back to Georgia, where they grew up, and worked for him for about a year. Gene Sr. then came back to San Diego to work for El Camino Memorial Park and became their top salesman for several years, selling both pre-need funeral plans and selling cemetery property for burials.
After achieving great success, El Camino wanted him to go into management, but he decided to start on his own and took a different management position at La Vista Memorial Park, a cemetery in National City. He took what he had learned and used it to build a prearrangement salesforce here while he was running the local cemetery. He branched out on his own in 1988 and was working exclusively with funeral homes all over Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona. This is when he incorporated the business and the business name came from these initials, SCNA Insurance Services Inc. and our business was born. Currently, we work with over 100 mortuaries all over Southern California. The most rewarding and formative years of my life were 1980 to 1982 when I worked with my father at the cemetery while I was in high school.
We encourage any family to contact us directly to discuss your funeral planning and final expense planning needs. Let our decades of experience guide and assist you in securing your wishes and provide financial security to you and yours. Please call us directly, or fill out the contact form below, to answer any questions you have and start the conversation.