Southern Indiana Business September/ October 2022 | Page 21

Naville and Seabrook

The personal nature of the work of local funeral homes lends itself to making strong connections with families in Southern Indiana . Within the organization itself , the traditions are often passed from generation to generation . One of the local funeral homes with strong generational ties is the Naville and Seabrook Funeral Home .
This family-owned service has been serving the community since 1848 . They have had three locations in the communty before settling into the current two locations . The transitions have also included merging with a local competitor .
Naville and Seabrook have continued through several generations . Berry Gwin passed the business to his son Monroe who in turn handed it to his son Newland Gwin and his wife Olive . Olive and her brother Elmer Dieckman managed the business until their son Elmer , Jr . and daughter and son-in-law Portia and Lyle Houston assumed duties . They passed the business on to their daughter and son-in-law Kimberly and John Naville .
After the merger in 1995 , Mark Seabrook became a partner with Lyle Houston and John Naville . Kimberly nad John Naville bought Mark Seabrook ’ s interest in the business in 2017 .
As with any industry , changes occur as the needs and wants of the community change . Today ’ s funeral home offers traditional funeral services along with cremations and celebrations of life . Naville and Seabrook also provide assistance in arrangements and monunments needed at cemeteries . Pre-planning for funerals and grief processing are a part of the counseling that are available through the funeral home .
Overcoming obstacles are a part of
John Naville , owner .
any thriving business and a funeral home is not exempt to such challenges . Recently , the COVID pandemic presented radical changes to the way funerals were handled . Limited attendance in a physical building opened opportunities for services and memorials to be streamed online .
A positive result from the pandemic arose as families are looking for more
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