Burhans-Crouse Funeral Home boasts more than 100 years of service
When Burhans Funeral Home owners F. Todd and Mary Ellen Burhans decided to sell the funeral home their family opened in 1902, they wanted someone just like themselves to take over the operation.
They found Charles and Cathy Crouse, who bought the business in 1984 and renamed it Burhans-Crouse Funeral Home.
"We were looking to buy and he wanted a family to take it over," Cathy Crouse said. "That's the reason why we got it."
Before buying the facility, Charles Crouse had been working in a funeral home in Elizabeth. But with Burhan's Funeral Home on Connellsville Street in Dunbar, "we found a location that matched us," Cathy Crouse said.
Like with any other business, the Crouses have encountered many challenges, including changes in philosophies and customers' tastes.
"People want more personalized funerals that have more meaning for them," Cathy Crouse said. "We're adapting to what they want."
For Burhans-Crouse Funeral Home, those personal touches can include the choice of music or the type of service.
"Each funeral is different," Charles Crouse said. "Each person has a different idea of how they want to remember their loved ones."
"We do what the family wants done," Cathy Crouse said. "It makes it easier for the family to grieve."
The Crouses said they place a great deal of importance on treating every family with respect, and they strive to provide a quality service and affordable price to grieving families.
"That's important," Charles Crouse said.
Cathy Crouse said her husband does not try to sell the family a funeral; rather, he lets them choose the service they want, which can at times prove difficult to provide.
"Everyone wants the best for their loved ones," Cathy Crouse said. "We try to steer them to what they can afford."
The Crouses said they always keep in mind that they're meeting their customers on the worst day of their lives, and that customers tend to make hasty decisions in the midst of their grief.
While a salesman would allow them to buy without thinking, Cathy Crouse said, "that's the wrong way to go."
The Crouses said they try to warn their customers about making costly or drastic decisions.
For example, there have been times where a family has arrived at the funeral home just a few hours after an unexpected death, which could lead to hasty decisions being made.
"That's just not right," Charles Crouse said. "If a death occurs today, we try to get them in the next day."
That philosophy has helped Burhans-Crouse Funeral Home secure repeat business and remain close to families even after a funeral.
Another part of the customer service success at Burhans-Crouse Funeral Home involves letting family members talk and let out all of their emotions and frustrations, allowing them to feel better.
"They need that," Cathy Crouse said. "(Charles Crouse) didn't want this to be a factory."
When it comes to the funeral-directing business, Cathy Crouse said she gets a sense of comfort from knowing that she and her husband are helping a family deal with their grief.
Misconceptions of the funeral-directing business can range from morbid to practical.
For instance, people often will assume that the Crouses only have to work during viewings.
However, those people do not see that the couple are up at 2 a.m. washing vehicles for a funeral, tracking down a doctors' signatures for death certificates and coordinating every minute of each funeral — from orchestrating the viewing and scheduling clergy members to monitoring the flight schedules of incoming family members.
"The amount of work and planning we do in one day is what it takes someone getting married a year to do," Charles Crouse said.
The Crouses said they do most of the work themselves, which helps to keep funeral costs affordable.
While the Crouses attend funeral-director conventions every year to learn about new products and updates, the future of the funeral home will change with as customers alter what they want for their deceased loved ones.
"Everything changes," Cathy Crouse said. "We're constantly looking at new things. That's with any business."
