INDUSTRY INSIGHT
LIFE CELEBRATIONS
SPONSORED CONTENT
September 2018 marks the 25 th Anniversary
In 1987 , Jefferson Memorial Cemetery bought the funeral home license of David G . Frankenfield & Sons . As Jefferson prepared to build a multimillion-dollar funeral home , it was clear that the name David G . Frankenfield was not known in Pittsburgh and therefore would not attract families . However , the name Jefferson Memorial Cemetery was well-known . The success of the new funeral home clearly rested upon the reputation the cemetery had accrued over the previous 64 years .
Interestingly , under Pennsylvania law , every funeral home must be operated under the name of a licensed funeral director in the state of Pennsylvania . Jefferson Memorial searched for a director with the last name of Jefferson , and was surprised to find not one in the state with that name . Even more surprisingly , the funeral director hired to manage the future funeral home , Jan Beichner , then volunteered to go to court and legally change her surname to Jefferson so the home could be known as Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home .
The funeral home was designed and built in a colonial Williamsburg style . The architect researched 200-year-old design books to ensure the accuracy of the color of the bricks , the woodwork , the doorways and even the paint color . Everything was to be identical to what you would find in authentic colonial Williamsburg buildings .
On September 1 , 1993 , after a three-day Open House where nearly 3,000 people toured the new building , the doors to Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home were opened . As Paul Harvey would have said , “ And that ’ s the rest of the story .”
This Industry Insight was provided by Dagny Neel Fitzpatrick .
Dagny is a fourth generation family owner of Jefferson Memorial Cemetery , Funeral Home and Crematory located at 401 Curry Hollow Rd . in Pleasant Hills . For more information contact Dagny at 412.655.4500 or by email at dagny @ jeffersonmemorial . biz .
of Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home !
Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home has humbly served over 9000 families since 1993 .
Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you and your family .
Jason L . Catalfu , Supervisor
412-655-4501 www . jeffersonmemorial . biz funeraldirector @ jeffersonmemorial . biz
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