The historic Fissell Chapel in Chehalis, built in 1924, which was eventually renamed Brown Mortuary Service. Brown and Sticklin Funeral Chapel merged in 1990 and the decision was recently made to sell the Chehalis property and consolidate services in the Centralia location.
A view of the Sticklin Funeral Chapel in Centralia, where all services for Brown and Sticklin were moved in late 2019. Brown Mortuary Service in Morton remains open
The staff of Sticklin Funeral Home.
For employees of the Brown Mortuary Service and Sticklin Funeral Chapel, consolidating services into one location in Centralia wasn’t a terribly big deal.
Yes, they’re saying goodbye to a piece of their company’s history. But the real heart of the business that has beat for more than 200 collective years remains the same.
“Helping families in one of the most stressful times of their lives and making the process easier,” said location manager Michelle Hayes, is what drives her in her work.
“Being able to help serve our community,” added Julie Carter, office manager. “We do a lot for our community.”
Recently, the decision was made to shutter and sell the former location of Brown Mortuary Service at the corner of Market and Cascade. All events planned at that location were accommodated at the Centralia location. The decision to close the Chehalis location was not as huge of a business impact since Brown (which was founded in 1910) and Sticklin (which has been in operating since 1895) both sold to the same company and merged in 1990.
“We’ve been operating simultaneously since 1990. So that part wasn’t quite so hard,” Carter said. “Really, the only thing that changed was we consolidated everything into (the Centralia) location.”
While the historic Chehalis property, which was built in 1924, was charming, it had some major downsides. Size was one of the biggest issues, along with handicap accessibility.
“The offices were in the basement and it didn’t have a reception area like we have here,” Carter said. “We were able to do small events, but we had to be creative.”
The Centralia location offers more parking, better accessibility and larger rooms where directors can meet with families. Another benefit of consolidating is that the larger Centralia funeral home is better suited toward the recent trend of unique funerals that reflect the person’s passions. The funeral home has plenty of room for display of a person’s collections, or perhaps for a special display that honors a hobby or pursuit.
“We do what we can to make it special for the family,” Carter said. “We even had an ATV in our chapel once.”
“And we had a waterfall set up for another,” Hayes added. “I think it’s a generational mindset. The older generation wants the traditional but we can turn it into whatever experience they would like.”
Brown Mortuary Service in Morton continues to operate. The same 10 staff members from the location in Centralia provide services at the Centralia and Morton locations so while assistance is available by phone at all hours, the actual building in Morton is only open by appointment.
Since 2009, Sticklin and Brown have been part of Dignity Memorial: Every Detail Remembered. It is a brand owned by Service Corporation International, LLC of Houston, Texas, which operates in 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Some of SCI, LLC’s other brands include: the Neptune Society; the trident society; National Cremation; and Funeraria Del Angel. As North America’s largest provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services, Dignity Memorial’s website notes there are more than 2,000 providers throughout North America serving more than 300,000 families each year under the Dignity name alone.
One of the largest benefits to being part of Dignity Memorial is that funeral packages purchased at one branch are transferrable to another location should someone pass away in a different state, or decide on a different burial location later on.
“They have a good model and good ways of helping families,” Carter said.
While the staff of Sticklin Funeral Chapel in Centralia and Brown Mortuary Service in Morton are able to help families at any stage of the funeral planning process, Hayes said she always recommends people consider pre-planning. Pre-planning locks in the cost of desired amenities, ensuring each person has the funeral they envision. Hayes said this is really important since on average, funeral costs double every 10 years.
“It’s a really selfless thing to do for your family,” Hayes said. “It takes a lot of stress off your family when you die and they come in and everything is all laid out because dying is so much more involved than being born.”
