Royal Oak Funeral Home Builds Chapel Addition

Even in the funeral business you have to keep up with the times, and  is doing just that with the addition of a chapel to its Royal Oak facility.

The addition will seat up to 140 people for funerals and memorials and is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, John Sullivan said.

“The contractors are really moving along. The chapel should be open in August,” said Sullivan, a third generation funeral director. His grandfather opened a funeral home on Main Street in 1906 in the Sullivan Building, which is now home to .

“The new chapel is going to be really nice,” he said.

The chapel, designed by , is the fourth renovation to the family owned and operated funeral home, which started off as a house built in the early 1930s. The greatest expansion to the facility was in 1956, with additional work done in 1972 and 1993.

The new space on the west side of the building widens an existing chapel to 29 feet and has a 30-foot-long copper skylight and vaulted ceilings. Contrasted with traditional visitation, the space is more suited to ceremonial gatherings.

Funeral business is changing

“The way things are today, there are a lot more cremations,” said Bob Stockton, operations manager. “Many people do not need rooms for a full-fledged visitation, they prefer a memorial service, so the chapel will be used for that.”

The funeral business is changing to reflect trends in culture and religion, too, Stockton said.  A Gallup study shows that 43 percent of Americans do not belong to a church and/or do not attend church regularly.

“There have been more changes in the last two years of the funeral business than there has been in the 35 years I have been around here,” Stockton said.

Since 1968, . A chapel was built at that location in 2000.

“Our Utica chapel has been very successful, so we decided to create a similar space in Royal Oak,” Stockton said.