A Family Tradition of Compassionate Care
Orlando Direct Cremation Service was founded in 1990 by Donald and Ann Desjardins with a simple belief: families deserve compassionate, straightforward care when they need it most.
What began as a small family business grew through the trust Donald and Ann earned in the community and the personal care they gave to every family they served.
For more than 35 years, our family has been honored to care for families throughout Central Florida during one of life’s most difficult times.
That is how Orlando Direct Cremation Service grew.
One call at a time.
One family at a time.
One act of kindness at a time.
The Kind of Man He Was
Years ago, while volunteering with hospice, Donald met a woman who was worried about how she would pay for her cremation. She had saved change in a five-gallon water jug. Donald sat beside her on the bed and helped count the coins so she could pay for her arrangements.
A hospice nurse who witnessed that moment never forgot it. She later shared that after seeing the compassion Donald showed that patient, she began sending all of her families to him.
“I can’t imagine anyone else would do that.”
—C. Vihlen, Hospice Nurse
For more than three decades, Donald devoted himself to Orlando Direct Cremation Service and to the families who trusted him during some of the most difficult moments of their lives.
In May 2026, our family said goodbye to Donald. His passing left an enormous space in our family and in the business he had spent so many years building.
In the days and weeks that followed, we experienced an extraordinary outpouring of love. We had always known the husband and father we loved—a kind, generous man who cared deeply about people. What we hadn’t fully realized was just how many others had seen that same person.
The stories, messages, and kindness shared with our family reminded us that Donald’s legacy wasn’t simply the business he built. It was the way he made people feel when they needed someone most.
Today, our family has the privilege—and the responsibility—of carrying that legacy forward.
We cannot replace Donald. We wouldn’t try.
Instead, we will continue what he started: treating every family with compassion, being honest and straightforward, keeping cremation care simple and affordable, and remembering that behind every phone call is a family who has just lost someone they love.
That was Donald’s promise to families for more than three decades. Now it is ours.