City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Gretchen Squires Best
Cary, North Carolina
Age 87.
Died 05/21/2025.
Gretchen Squires Best passed away peacefully on May 21, 2025, in Cary, North Carolina. She was born on August 16, 1938, in Lackawana, Pennsylvania to Frederick (Ted) and Virginia (Ginie) Squires. As a young girl, she spent cherished days at the cottage her grandfather built on Lake Sheridan in Nicholson, PA. Following World War II, her family lived in Hinsdale, Illinois and Berea, Ohio, before settling in Northampton, Massachusetts, one of Gretchen’s favorite places, and the home of her parents for most of the rest of their lives.
Gretchen attended Bucknell University and graduated from Mary Washington College. A dedicated teacher and tutor, she quietly transformed the lives of her students through steady encouragement, and genuine kindness. Her adult years were devoted primarily to raising her children in Hinsdale, IL, Wyckoff, NJ, and Cary, NC, but her heart was never far from New England, where she spent many summers and hosted large family gatherings at Lake Raponda in Wilmington, Vermont
Gretchen’s deep and abiding faith was the foundation of her life. At West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ, First Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC, and Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Cary, NC, where she was a charter member, Gretchen remained a steady and devoted presence, lifting others with kindness, wisdom, and service.
Gretchen was a gifted artist with a particular love for watercolor, and her beautiful paintings, much like her elegant handwriting, reflected her thoughtfulness, care, and appreciation for beauty. She had a green thumb that brought life to every plant she touched, and a quiet generosity that nurtured friendships across generations and geographies. Gretchen loved anything funny and was known for her sudden, distinctive laugh; loud, joyful, and unmistakable. A lifelong passion for chocolate was one of her sweet trademarks. Family and friends will forever remember the rich chocolate cakes she baked, made with love and shared with delight.
Gretchen was the heart of her family, modeling integrity, empathy, and humor. She was enormously proud of her children Todd (Kathy), Laurie (Tom), Jim (Landis), and Heather (Eddie), celebrating each of their triumphs and offering prayers and encouragement through every challenge. Her thirteen grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, who lovingly called her “Nona” as she called her own grandmother, were adored endlessly. She is also remembered with love by her sister Wendy, and joins in heaven her beloved parents and her cherished sister, Pam, with whom she shared a deep and lifelong bond. She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Graham Best.
While a private family celebration of Gretchen’s life will take place at a later date, Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Cary, NC will host a service to honor her memory on Saturday, November 1, at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to:
Cornerstone Presbyterian Church 2200 High House Road, Cary NC 27519
Raleigh Rescue Mission PO BOX 58634, Raleigh NC 27658 give.raleighrescue.org
Wake County Public Library Trust Fund 4020 Carya Drive, Raleigh NC, 27610
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
$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.
$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.
$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.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$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.
$6081.48
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.
$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.
$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.