Porter Loring Mortuaries & Cremation Services

More about Porter Loring Mortuary

Porter Loring Mortuary offers compassionate, professional funeral and cremation planning to people from all walks of life. Dedicated to helping celebrate your life or the life of a loved one with tailored services that truly reflect the person being honored, the team at Porter Loring Mortuary offers knowledge and care you can count on. Our experienced and caring staff blends traditional values with contemporary products and services to memorialize every life with attention to detail.

We also specialize in religious and cultural funeral traditions. Whether you’re observing Catholic rituals, incorporating Hindu practices or following Jewish customs, we can help you honor your loved one in significant and special ways.

Celebration of life planning

Our planners are celebration of life experts. We plan more celebrations each year than any other provider, and we know just what to do to create a uniquely beautiful and heartfelt tribute with attention to detail like no other.

Every family who entrusts us with their loved one’s service can expect an event that includes:

• Meaningful music. Families are surprised to learn that we can play any songs you’d like or a different playlist for every aspect of the celebration.
• Cherished memories. A curated display of photographs and personal items invites family and friends to remember special moments and defining details.
• A personalized message. We work with a celebrant, clergy member or officiant to craft a heartfelt message that reflects your loved one and uplifts guests.

When planning a celebration of life, your imagination is the only limit.

Memorable meals by Don Strange

At Porter Loring, we look to accommodate as many needs as possible for families dealing with personal loss. After all, funerals, memorials and visitations are more than just acknowledgments of a loved one's passing. They're also opportunities for family and friends to gather, remember and share refreshments.

Event planner Don Strange of Texas is our exclusive catering partner. San Antonians know the company for the very best in taste and service. With decades of experience and a reputation for unforgettable events, Don Strange elevates every gathering with meticulous attention to detail. Menus range from signature sweets to a Mexican fiesta or a Hill Country barbecue.

A private crematory and witness cremations

Porter Loring Mortuary has a private crematory that serves all three Porter Loring funeral homes. Here’s what that means for your family:

• Exclusive custody of your loved one. Once your loved one is in our care, they’re in our care until we return their urn to your family.
• Delivery of your loved one’s urn. We’re in control of the crematory schedule and are often able to let you know up front when we’ll return your loved one to you.
• Accommodation of a witness cremation. Many families prefer to go straight from a service to the crematory to be present when we begin the cremation process for their loved ones. Our crematory was built with that in mind.

Pre-planning experts

Losing someone you love can be very painful. Planning your funeral and purchasing cemetery property in advance makes it easier on your family. In fact, one of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones is planning and funding final arrangements ahead of time. When you plan ahead, you get to carefully consider your options and make choices that ensure your life is remembered and celebrated the way you want.

Veterans funerals and burials

We deeply appreciate those who have sacrificed for our freedoms and feel privileged to honor veterans and their families in need of funeral, cremation and burial services. Our experienced funeral directors are dedicated to ensuring that every veteran is honored in a manner befitting their service and giving their families the support they need.

Grief support groups

The loss of a loved one can be devastating, and many people don’t know where to turn or how to cope. We’re here to help you through the bereavement process. You are not alone.

We can help you find peace and healing. Our support groups are open to anyone in the community who is struggling with the loss of a loved one. Please call bereavement coordinator Molly O’Phelan, PhD, RN, LMFT at (210) 227-8221 to learn more about the group that would be most appropriate for you and reserve a spot.

Men’s Grief Support Group

What does recovering from the loss of your wife look like? How do you move forward while maintaining the memory of your cherished partner? Our Men’s Grief Support Group helps men 65 and older answer these questions in a supportive, constructive group environment.

• Time: Every Monday, 1-2:30pm
• Place: Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, 825 E. Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209 (in room W100)
• Facilitator: Molly O'Phelan, PhD, RN, LMFT, bereavement coordinator

Fellowship in Grief

When a husband loses his wife, there is grief to contend with and many life changes that must be faced. Our Fellowship in Grief support group offers a space for middle-age and younger men to address their challenges, including taking care of their families, while learning new skills in navigating their grief journey.

• Time: Second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, noon-1:30pm
• Place: Porter Loring Family Care Services, 2119 Mannix Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217 (in the conference room)
• Facilitator: Molly O'Phelan, PhD, RN, LMFT, bereavement coordinator

Grief Support Group for Women

Grieving with those who share similar grief experiences can often be the key to unlocking healing. Our Grief Support Group for Women 60 years and older who have lost a husband offers a safe and supportive environment where women can express their grief and discover ways of coping and healing.

• Time: Every Monday, 10-11:30am
• Place: Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, 825 E. Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209 (in room W100)
• Facilitator: Molly O’Phelan, PhD, RN, LMFT, bereavement coordinator

Grief Support Group for Younger Women

Working through your grief with other young women who have experienced similar traumas can open doors to healing that you never thought to open on your own. Being in a safe space and learning resilient ways of coping can help you navigate the many challenges of losing a husband early in life, including taking care of the family while learning new skills.

• Time: First and third Tuesdays of each month, 11:30am-1pm
• Place: Porter Loring Family Care Services, 2119 Mannix Drive, San Antonio, TX 78217 (in the conference room)
• Facilitator: Molly O'Phelan, PhD, RN, LMFT, bereavement coordinator

Forever Loved

Our Forever Loved Grief Support Group is a safe, healing space for parents who have lost a child at any age to work through their sorrow and grief. The goal of this group is to help parents find hope and strength without losing the memories of their precious children.

• Time: Every Tuesday, 7-8:30pm
• Place: Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, 825 E. Basse Road, San Antonio, TX 78209 (in room S107)
• Facilitator: Molly O'Phelan, PhD, RN, LMFT, bereavement coordinator

LGBTQ+ Bereavement Support Class

Connecting with others who accept and affirm one’s life journey is crucial in the grief experience. Our eight-week LGBTQ+ Bereavement Support Class provides members of the LGBTQ+ community with a safe, open environment to grapple with the effects of loss and learn to heal. Attending all eight sessions is most beneficial, therefore no new participants are accepted after the second session. Please call Molly O’Phelan at (210) 227-8221 to ask about starting dates for class sessions.

• Time: Thursdays, 6:30-8pm. View our current LGBTQ+ group schedule.
• Place: The Pride Center San Antonio, 1303 McCullough Ave., San Antonio, TX 78212 (in suite 160)
• Facilitator: Darwin Huartson, M.Div, BCC

General support programs

Our eight-week Making Your Grief Count program is an opportunity for those who have experienced loss of any kind to work through their grief, learn about healthy coping tools and discover a path to healing in a supportive environment. Due to the nature of the program, no new participants will be accepted after the second session. For more information about the location of the current program or to schedule one at your place of worship, please call Molly O'Phelan at (210) 227-8221.

See a schedule of our current Making Your Grief Count programs.

Porter Loring Mortuary History

The year was 1918. World War I had just ended. Troops were returning from Europe, and so were casualties for burial in hometowns. The upheaval of the times also spread one of the deadliest influenza epidemics in history. For a military town like San Antonio, and for the funeral homes serving the area, the situation posed a serious challenge.

It was against this backdrop that Porter Loring Sr. decided the time was right to introduce a new type of mortuary. He established Porter Loring across from Travis Park.

“It was true I was going to bury the dead, but I wasn’t going to be an ‘undertaker.’ Instead, I was going to operate a mortuary—one that had respect for the dead and sympathy for the families who came to it. I was determined to have this philosophy expressed in all the ways I could create, and to ensure every one of my employees would radiate this belief in their work, language and manner of living,” Porter Sr. said in a speech.

For decades, these words have served as a standard for our operations—and a measure of our commitment to the families we serve. And today, though we’ve changed and grown in many ways that Porter Sr. might not have been able to fathom, we think he’d be gratified to see the results of a prediction he made during that same speech so long ago: “We will continue to grow professionally, as long as we hold to our original ideals, and as long as each of us grasps the spirit of the organization.”

If he could see us now, he’d know how absolutely right he was.

We are thankful to be an important part of the San Antonio community. As part of the Dignity Memorial family of funeral homes, cremation providers and cemeteries, we continue our longstanding legacy of helping families honor their loved ones.