City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
James ‘Jim’ Serine, Jr.

Durham, North Carolina

Age 72.
Died 04/05/2024.

James ‘Jim’ Serine, Jr.
James ‘Jim’ Serine Jr., 72, of Durham, NC, passed away on April 5, 2024, leaving behind a legacy of coaching and laughter.

Jim was born in Dunmore, PA on March 26, 1952 to parents Rose and Jim Serine Sr. where he grew up with his twin brothers, Harry and Sam, and his sister, Rose. Jim was an avid athlete and weight lifter who attended Mansfield University where he played baseball. It was at Mansfield where he met his soon-to-be wife of 46 years, Marie Finnegan. Jim and Marie have three children, Angie, Julie and Jimmy III, and four grandchildren, Victoria, Makayla, James IV and Millie. He developed a best friend of late in Teddy, his beloved golden doodle.

Jim was a dedicated school teacher who had a long career coaching high school athletics. He began coaching men’s basketball at Cardinal Gibbons High School from 1976-77. He moved on to coach football, baseball, track, and basketball at East Wake High School from 1978-1990. He then coached Varsity women’s basketball at Cary High School from 1993 - 1996. He finished out his education career at Green Hope High School. Coach Serine invested countless hours leading young men and women to become the best version of themselves possible.

Jim is survived by his wife Marie Serine, his older sister Rose Musti, and his children Julie Martinez (Victor and grandchildren, Victoria and Makayla) and Jimmy Serine III (Laura and grandchildren, James IV and Millie).

Jim was preceded in death by his parents Rose and James Serine Sr, his older brothers Harry and Sam Serine, and his daughter Angie Serine.

There will be a celebration of life on Saturday April 13th from 2-4pm at the Durham Exchange at ReCity, 112 Broadway St, Durham, NC 27701. Attire will be casual. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

A funeral is planned for Saturday, June 1st in Scranton, PA. Specific details will be put out at a later time.

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

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Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

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Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

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Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

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Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

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Traditional Funeral

$5866.98

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

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Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

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Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations