Detroit Area Funeral Homes prior to 1950s

[RaumVogel]

When I lived in Hamtramck, we used to make a joke everytime we passed Krot funeral home. "Visit Krot funeral home today. We spell rot with a K".

...I know...

[pgn421]

My dad had a funeral home on E. Grand Blvd, by Mack, back in the late 40's. He and i later worked for Van Lerberghe on E. Warren.

[Crystal]

When my Mom died in 2011, my brothers and I held her funeral in our home. We used the services of a home funeral consultant to help prepare the body and provide dry ice. For two days friends and neighbors came and went, brought food, ate food, and stayed to chat. On the morning of the third day, the funeral home took Mom's body for cremation.

Many mourners approached the house with a worried look and weren't sure they approved of a corpse in a house. But it seemed to work out, and almost everyone shared a story of how funerals "used to be".

[GUSHI]

They are sill in house in Europe. Some one is suppose to stay up all night watching the body. When my grandpa died here, he wanted to be buried overseas.

[mtburb]

The HF Thon Funeral Home is another pre-1950 funeral home-it has been around for around a century, though not always in the same spot-it originally began at the southwest corner of Biddle Avenue and Sycamore in downtown Wyandotte [[the entire block of buildings on the west side of Biddle between Sycamore and Eureka was torn down in 1967 and the lot then sat vacant until the Wyandotte Savings Bank erected the current four-story office building [[which now houses the Wyandotte City Hall and a Chase Bank branch) there in 1981), then later moved to it's current address a few blocks north at Chestnut.

[kathy2trips]

Wait, wait....I know I'm late but I just saw this thread. Wasn't Calcattera's originally across the street from San Francesco Catholic Church? I thought I'd seen some photos of my great-grandmother's funeral in 1935 and could have sworn I saw Calcattera's across the street.

Also, amazing if the Kelly Road funeral home was a grocery store. I can't imagine....so many windows and so mid-century modern! They were doing very well at the time and could have well afforded to have one built. Also its proximity to St. Jude echoes their philosophy of locating close to a church.

[Maof]

http://www.italian-tribune.com/IT_06_26_09_06.pdf.

here ya go kathy. my mother-in-law was a member of the old San Francesco Church. i remember her telling me about the funeral home near eastern market. she was born in a home across the street from roma cafe' in the early 1900's

[kathy2trips]

Tombala [[a.k.a. Bingo!), Maof! Forwarding this to the family, for sure!

Your wife's people and my people are from the same 'hood. We're Mariotti, Lanzi, Gubiotti and Trincia. Pleased ta meet 'cha! And grazie!

http://www.italian-tribune.com/IT_06_26_09_06.pdf.

here ya go kathy. my mother-in-law was a member of the old San Francesco Church. i remember her telling me about the funeral home near eastern market. she was born in a home across the street from roma cafe' in the early 1900's

[adamjab19]

it's interesting, you can almost trace sprawl but looking where the funeral homes moved to.

[Maof]

Tombala [[a.k.a. Bingo!), Maof! Forwarding this to the family, for sure!

Your wife's people and my people are from the same 'hood. We're Mariotti, Lanzi, Gubiotti and Trincia. Pleased ta meet 'cha! And grazie!

kathy...that's my husband's side of the family. from the lombardi region. my side was the bagnasco funeral home and holy family church....sicilian..lol

[GPguy]

I believe the oldest funeral home is the William R Hamilton Funeral Home now in Mount Clemens. Their original building was down on Cass in Detroit. They were the ones who prepared Harry Houdini's body for delivery to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in New York after he passed in Detroit.

[sumas]

When my Mom died in 2011, my brothers and I held her funeral in our home. We used the services of a home funeral consultant to help prepare the body and provide dry ice. For two days friends and neighbors came and went, brought food, ate food, and stayed to chat. On the morning of the third day, the funeral home took Mom's body for cremation.

Many mourners approached the house with a worried look and weren't sure they approved of a corpse in a house. But it seemed to work out, and almost everyone shared a story of how funerals "used to be".

Nothing wierd about that. I live in an old home, the parlor was for Sundays and funerals. Have more than a few cremains on our property and does not bother me a bit. Locations are staked and candles lit as need be.

[kathy2trips]

You're not thinking of Polla's on Kelly Road, are you? I used to go there with my Nonna after stopping at Tringali's. I remember that she told me Polla's used to be one of the earliest, if not first. Chatham's.

[shirlselects]

I grew up in Detroit in the 40's and remember going into the homes that we
knew someone was laid out it. We would pretend we knew the family. My uncle
who died from injuries in WW 2 was laid out in my Grandmothers house and had
his uniform on and the casket was open fully so you could even see his boots.

[kathy2trips]

. Not 100% sure but I believe the 7 and Kelly Calcaterra Funeral Home was a converted Kroger Store. Can anyone in the St. Jude area verify if Calcaterra was a tear down/rebuild or a modified building?

From my research of the Detroit Free Press archives, the last funeral out of Calcaterra's at 1201 East Grand Boulevard was on March 17, 1959. There were apparently no funerals from Calcaterra's in April 1959. The first one out of the location at 16090 E. 7 Mile Road was on May 4, 1959. I could find no other business located at that location prior. Judging from its mid-century modern architecture, I would ascertain that it was new construction at that time.

Of course, any additional information or a correction to.my findings would be greatly appreciated.

[jackie5275]

My friend's great grandfather established the Liedel Funeral Home in Maybee in 1880. His family had it for 3 generations until his dad retired and sold it to the Martenson funeral home system. They operate it & have kept it as is with no remodeling. It is actually an old house where the family lived upstairs. The viewing area is in the living room. The office area is off the living room kind of what would be like a sitting room. The body prep area is in the basement. Granted it's not in the metro Detroit area, but it's in the SE Michigan region.

[IrishSpartan]

From my research of the Detroit Free Press archives, the last funeral out of Calcaterra's at 1201 East Grand Boulevard was on March 17, 1959. There were apparently no funerals from Calcaterra's in April 1959. The first one out of the location at 16090 E. 7 Mile Road was on May 4, 1959. I could find no other business located at that location prior. Judging from its mid-century modern architecture, I would ascertain that it was new construction at that time.

Of course, any additional information or a correction to.my findings would be greatly appreciated.

Calcaterra on E. Grand Blvd. was operating until at least early 1962. A close friend of the family back then had a funeral there in December of 1961. It was House of Diggs by 1963 and that year the former Baltimore Colts football player Big Daddy Lipscomb, who was originally from Detroit had his funeral at Diggs.

[canuck]

Calcaterra on E. Grand Blvd. was operating until at least early 1962. A close friend of the family back then had a funeral there in December of 1961. It was House of Diggs by 1963 and that year the former Baltimore Colts football player Big Daddy Lipscomb, who was originally from Detroit had his funeral at Diggs.

What a great name for a Funeral Parlor; House of Diggs. Love it.

There is an old Funeral company in Montreal with a similar evocative name;
"T. Sansregret". The T when spoken in the French idiom also stands for “You”, in other words, You are without regret.

[jcole]

Calcaterra may have been on E Grand until 1962 but that doesn't mean they didn't build a new one on 7 and Moross at the V in the road before that. I lived around the block from it and remember it from being a tiny child in the early 60's or late 50's.

Calcaterra on E. Grand Blvd. was operating until at least early 1962. A close friend of the family back then had a funeral there in December of 1961. It was House of Diggs by 1963 and that year the former Baltimore Colts football player Big Daddy Lipscomb, who was originally from Detroit had his funeral at Diggs.

[jcole]

The first obit from the 7 Mile Calcattera's is this one from July of 1959

[IrishSpartan]

Calcaterra may have been on E Grand until 1962 but that doesn't mean they didn't build a new one on 7 and Moross at the V in the road before that. I lived around the block from it and remember it from being a tiny child in the early 60's or late 50's.

Where did I claim that the two were not operating concurrently for a certain period of time? A.H. Peters had the Gratiot location and still open Mack location operating together for years before they opened the funeral home on Schoenherr in Warren. A number of funeral home operations did that as the demographics of the neighborhoods in the city/suburbs changed.

[Former_Detroiter]

Many Black funeral homes in Detroit became family practices. Charles C. Diggs, Sr., founded his House of Diggs Funeral Home in 1921, and his son Charles C. Diggs, Jr., was born the next year.

The House of Diggs Funeral Home, Detroit, MI | The Undertaker's Parlor [[wordpress.com)