Founded over a century ago in Philadelphia by John P. Donohue, family run Donohue Funeral Home has recently purchased three new funeral homes in Delaware County and one in Downingtown, nearly doubling its operations in the process, writes Brian McCullough for the Daily Local News.

“We are family-owned and operated, and there are not many of us left,” said Michael K. Donohue, John’s great-grandson. “It was a way of solidifying us in this marketplace.”

Among the purchased properties are Spencer T. Videon Funeral Home in Drexel Hill and Rothermel-Videon Funeral Home in Havertown which will be merged into existing Donohue operations, while Knoetgen Funeral Home in Morton and Ralston & Bredickas Funeral Home in Downingtown will remain at their current locations.

The acquisition of the funeral homes from the Life Celebration by Givnish Funeral Home cost Donohue and his partner James L. Huf, $2.2 million. The new owners emphasized that any arrangements made at the funeral homes prior to their purchase will be honored by Donohue.

“We’ve been working on this deal for well over a year,” said Donohue. “They’re a family-owned business also, and they’re downsizing outside of their (core) market areas. They are big in Bucks and Montgomery counties. They’re just refocusing on their strength.”

The purchases come as a way to fight the current difficult times for smaller funeral homes, as national companies expand their reach, dominating the cemetery and casket sector while an increasing number of people use the internet to comparison shop before calling a funeral home.

“People today are more about convenience,” said Huf, who has 27 years of funeral home experience. “It’s not about where mom and grand-mom went anymore.” Donohue agreed and added that traditions were no longer important when it came to funerals as cremations are on the rise, which the firm also caters for with its own crematorium.

With a traditional funeral with service costing from $9,000 to $12,000 compared to the average cremation fees of between $3,500 and $7,000 it is not surprising that more people are opting for the latter.

“On average, cremations were 10 percent of the business when we started, and now it’s about 40 percent,” said Donohue.