Hopewell Valley Funeral Homes

Undertakers and funeral homes may not be an exciting topic, but historically they were deeply intertwined in daily lives of the people of Hopewell Valley. We seek closure from death, from a gathering of family, friends, and the community to morn, remember, memorialize, and even celebrate the life of the departed. And we need help with the practical aspects of death, including preparing and preserving the body, managing administrative tasks and paperwork, holding services, and organizing the burial.

These reports summarize the funeral directors and funeral homes that operated in the Hopewell Valley from the late 1800s into the present, as funeral services evolved from being organized by an Undertaker in the family’s home, to utilizing a Funeral Director who could host at a dedicated Memorial Home.

Blackwell Memorial Home Horse-Drawn Hearse

These late 1800s Hopewell Valley funeral home businesses described themselves as Embalmers and Undertakers, with the focus on preparing and preserving the body (including lots of ice used before the availability of air conditioning), hosting services in homes, and handling the logistics of the funeral and burial in local cemeteries.

They often worked out of their homes, with a dedicated space for embalming. They would build their own caskets in their woodwork and upholstery shops, which lead to the opportunity to offer furniture making services. Similarly, the need to have a dedicated hearse vehicle as a lead to opportunities to branch out into ambulance, transport, and general auto services.

By the early 1900s, the business focus had shifted to the title of Funeral Director (with less emphasis on the messy parts), although many funeral services were still held in homes. Over the next decades, this evolved to the more modern approach of having a dedicated facility to serve as a Memorial Home, which could host visitations, viewings, and funeral services for larger groups, before an often smaller service at the gravesite. As a result, funeral directors either had dedicated facilities, or expanded their homes, i.e., with the funeral home on the first floor and the family home upstairs.

See the associated history briefs for more details on the Hopewell Valley and Hopewell Borough funeral homes:

History Brief – Hopewell Valley Funeral Home Businesses – Summary (PDF)
History Brief – 10 Front St. Funeral Homes (c1893) – Summary (PDF)

Contents

Pennington Funeral Homes
Hopewell Funeral Homes
Titusville Funeral Homes

Pennington Borough Funeral Homes

Pennington still is the home of two long-lasting funeral home businesses, the Blackwell Memorial Home on Main Street that has been operated by one family line since 1881, and the Wilson Apple Memorial Home on the Pennington Circle that has continued in the building since 1958.

Blackwell Memorial Home – 21 N. Main St., Pennington

The history of the Blackwell Memorial Home on Main Street goes back to Nathaniel Reeder Blackwell (aka N.R., or Nat). The iconic Blackwell horse-drawn hearse was built in 1901, and is still in use today for historical occasions.

1881 – Blackwell Memorial Home

1881 – N. R. Blackwell Funeral Service founded – Nathaniel Reeder Blackwell (1859-1923)
1901 – Horse-Drawn Hearse built by Bergen & Taylor
1901 – N. R. Blackwell also in furniture and upholstering business, including repairing furniture and restoring antiques
1923 – Death of N. R. Blackwell; business operated by wife Carrie Elizabeth [Baldwin] Blackwell (1860-1936)
1936 – Death of Carrie Blackwell; business operated by daughter Elizabeth (Liz) [Blackwell] Deremer (1906-1972)
1938 – New building (back), front of Victorian intact (1847) – became Blackwell Memorial Home
1972 – Death of Elizabeth Deremer; business operated by daughter Betty & John E. (Jack) Davis
1983 – Death of Jack Davis; wife Betty [Blackwell] Davis continues to operate business

Wilson Apple Memorial Home – 2560 Pennington Rd., Pennington

The Wilson Apple Memorial Home building on the Pennington Circle was originally constructed and opened in 1958 as a funeral home by Trexler E. Kent. It then was taken over in 1962 by Robert A. Wilson Sr., and is now run by R. Asher Wilson, Jr.

1958-1960 – Trexler E. Kent Home for Funerals

By 1951, Trexler E. Kent (1921-1960) was licensed by the Eckels College of Mortuary Science, Phila., and was an independent funeral director in Hopewell, associated with the Farr Funeral Home.

In 1958, Kent built and opened the Trexler E. Kent Home for Funerals at 2560 Pennington Rd. (in Pennington Circle). Kent died two years later in 1960 at age 39.

1962 – Wilson Apple / Cromwell Memorial Home.

In 1962, Robert A. Wilson, Sr. (1955-2023) purchased the Kent property, and held an open house for the Robert A. Wilson Home for Funerals. He had previously been with Runyon & Son Funeral Directors in Plainfield, N. J. and attended the McAllister School of Embalming in New York City.

In 1980, Edward Apple joined the business, which was renamed the Wilson Apple Funeral Home. In 1986 Wilson’s son, R. Asher Wilson, Jr., was licensed and joined the business. He then continued the business in 2023 after his father’s death.

In 2013, Joseph Immordino moved his business from Hopewell Borough to become the Cromwell-Immordino Memorial Home at Wilson Apple in Pennington. Around 2021, Immordino left the business, although the Cromwell trade name continues as the Cromwell Memorial Home at Wilson-Apple.

Hopewell Borough Funeral Homes

Hopewell Borough also was the home of two long-lasting funeral home business, each of which changed locations early in their existence and passed through multiple owners – the Howell / Blackwell / Rorer / Farr Funeral Home on Front Street, and the Forsythe / Cromwell / Immordino Memorial Home on East Prospect Street.

Howell / Blackwell / Rorer / Farr Funeral Homes – 10 Front St.

Four funeral directors successively operated their funeral home businesses from c.1888 through the 1970s, at 10 Front Street in Hopewell Borough, combining their family home and the business at the location.

c1888 – 1907 (~14 yrs) – Israel G. Howell

Israel G. Howell (1850-1922) advertised his business as Undertaker and Embalmer, and also made and sold furniture due to his work of building caskets.

Howell was born in Pennington, and originally began his business by 1888 at 12 North Greenwood. He then purchased the 10 Front Street property in 1893. In addition, he received U.S. Patent 707,417 in 1902, for “Ice-Sandal for Flat Horseshoes.”

Howell sold the property and business to Lorraine F Blackwell in 1907, and then relocated to Trenton and worked for the N. J. School Furniture Co.

1907 – 1914 (~7 yrs) – Lorraine F. Blackwell

Lorraine F. Blackwell (1884-1914) purchased the property and business in 1907. He advertised his business as a Funeral Director and Undertaker. He died young in 1914 from diabetes.

His father, N. R. Blackwell, also operated Blackwell’s Funeral Home in Pennington.

1915 – 1947 (33 yrs) – Francis C. W. Rorer

Francis C. W. Rorer, Funeral Director [HH 10/11/1916]

F. C. W. Rorer (1863-1960) had the longest tenure at the Front Street funeral home. He was born in Southampton, Penna. His son, Herbert F. Rorer, also operated Rorer’s Hardware starting in 1926.

Before entering the funeral home business, Rorer was an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and operated the inauguration train that took Woodrow Wilson to Washington DC.

Rorer became a funeral director in 1914, after five years and nine months in apprenticeship for the undertaking and embalming profession, and graduate and post- graduate courses at the Eckels School of Embalming in Philadelphia. Rorer then purchased the property and business in 1915, using the barn in back for his embalming and casket making work.

Rorer advertised his business as Funeral Director, Licensed Undertaker and Embalmer, but also expanded his business by offering the Cadillac funeral hearse / ambulance for “Auto & Ambulance Service, at all Times,” and supplies for funeral services as “Flowers & chairs for all occasions.” He sold the property and business to Thurland B. Farr in 1947, and then moved to Princeton.

1947 – 1965 (~18 yrs) – c1973 – Thurland B. Farr

Thurland B. Farr (c1901-1990) purchased the property and business in 1947, and renovated the entire first floor of the house for funeral work, especially for hosting funeral services. He advertised himself as Funeral Director for the Farr Funeral Home, and promoted the Wurlitzer organ available for services.

Farr officially retired in 1965, but continued the Farr Funeral Home into 1973. The property was sold out of the family in 1990 after the death of Farr and his wife Henrietta and became a private residence.

Forsythe (Cromwell) Funeral Home – 15 & 24 E. Broad St.

A second Hopewell Borough line of funeral homes began with Frederick K. Forsythe, who initially operated his Funeral Director business at 15 East Broad Street, and then moved to 24 East Broad St. Later he was joined by John M. Cromwell.

1916 – 1955 – Forsythe / Cromwell – 15 & 24 E. Broad St.

In 1916/17, Frederick K. Forsythe (1865-1965) was operating his Funeral Director business at 15 East Broad Street at the Central Hotel (later the Hopewell Inn), including an office and separate garage for autos and furniture. By 1926, he relocated the business to 24 East Broad St. (next to the Hopewell Museum).

John M. Cromwell joined the business in 1951, and continued to operate it after Forsythe retired around 1952. In 1955, after the death of Forsythe, Cromwell moved the business to 71 East Prospect Street.

Cromwell / Immordino Memorial Home – 71 E. Prospect St.

After the death of Frederick K. Forsythe in 1955, John M. Cromwell moved the funeral home business to his new home at 71 East Prospect Street, renamed as the Cromwell Memorial Home. After he retired in 1990, the business continued to be operated under several owners that used variants of the Cromwell name.

1955 – 1990 – Cromwell Memorial Home – John M. Cromwell

In 1955, after working with F. K. Forsythe, John Moore Cromwell (1927-1998) purchased the 71 East Prospect Street property and opened the Cromwell Memorial Home. The first floor held two rooms for gatherings, and the family lived upstairs. The basement originally was a garage (as the ground slowed down at the back, and later became a showroom for caskets. The children remember strict instructions to be very quiet upstairs during services on the main floor. Cromwell made sure that someone always was available to answer phone calls, so night calls for Hopewell Borough emergencies were directed to their line.

1990 – 2003 – Cromwell Memorial Home – Vogelmans

In 1990, Edward F. Vogelman (1930-2009) and Rosemary T. Vogelman, purchased the Cromwell Memorial Home business from John Cromwell. They had previously built and operated the Howard B. Mulligan Funeral Home in Levittown, Penna.

2002 – 2013 – Cromwell-Immordino Memorial Home – Joseph Immordino

In 2002, Joseph A. Immordino, Jr. purchased the business and operated it as the Cromwell-Immordino Memorial Home. In 2013, Immordino relocated his business to Wilson Apple in Pennington and the Hopewell location was then taken over by Todd Cohan.

2013 – c.2019 – Hopewell Cromwell Memorial Home – Todd M. Cohan

In 2013, after Immordino took his business to Wilson Apple in Pennington, Todd Michael Cohan purchased the Prospect Street property at a sheriff sale and renovated the building to continue as a funeral home. Originally renamed the Hopewell Cromwell Memorial Home, in 2017 the business became the Cromwell Funeral Home of Hopewell Valley. The HopewellMemorial.com website was last updated in 2019, and the building then was demolished and replaced by two new homes.

Titusville Funeral Homes

Titusville also was the home of an early and long-lived funeral home business operated by Farley D. Hunt.

Farley D. Hunt Funeral Home – West River Road, Titusville

By 1893, Farley D. Hunt (1864-1936), operated as Funeral Director and Embalmer on West River Road in Titusville. By his death in 1936, he had been an undertaker for more than 40 years.

In 1900 he also was listed as a Wheelwright with his father, David H. Hunt.

See the associated history briefs for more details on the Hopewell Valley and Hopewell Borough funeral homes:

History Brief – Hopewell Valley Funeral Home Businesses – Summary (PDF)
History Brief – 10 Front St. Funeral Homes (c1893) – Summary (PDF)

See Rorer Funeral Football Ladle for more on Rorer’s funeral parlor and a fascinating promotional item for the business.

Please contact us if you have photos, videos, other materials from Hopewell area funeral homes that we can share.