By Anthony Rifilato
Inside the Fullerton Funeral Home at 11 a.m. on a bright day, Dan Fullerton was in his large office, preoccupied with getting ready for an appointment he had at 11:30 with a local family coming in to make funeral arrangements. There had been a death in their family that very morning, and Fullerton was preparing to cater to their needs, like he has since he was a young man, and like his father and grandfather did before him.
Initially, it was supposed to be a relatively slow day at the funeral home, but in this business, said Fullerton, that can change instantly. "You still don't know when the death is going to be," he said.
For the past 100 years -- three generations -- the Fullerton Funeral Home has been serving families at an extremely difficult and emotional time in their lives, while also maintaining an impeccable reputation. The business was founded in 1903 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, by Daniel J. Fullerton, Dan's grandfather. It was originally a dry-goods store that also sold caskets, which eventually led the elder Daniel into the business.
On the wall in Fullerton's office is an old, framed black-and-white photo of a police funeral procession not long after the turn of the 20th century. A police officer had been killed in Canarsie by a runaway horse, Fullerton said, and his grandfather had arranged the funeral.
"That's how it all began," he said.
At the time, there weren't really any professional funeral homes, and most funerals were arranged and conducted in people's homes, including preparations such as embalming. "It slowly developed into a need for funeral homes," Fullerton explained.
In 1937, Fullerton's father, James, moved the business to Baldwin and opened a branch on Merrick Road. Because many Baldwinites were Brooklyn natives, the funeral home and the Fullerton name were already well-known, the family said.
And the business continued to grow. Dan was practically born into it, and began working with his father at the funeral home at a very young age.
In 1962 he graduated from the American Academy of Funeral Service. When his father passed away in 1976, Fullerton took over as the funeral home's president. "You get used to it," he said of his early foray into the family business. The funeral industry has traditionally comprised family-owned businesses. It has also been a male-dominated profession, but at Fullerton, that isn't really the whole story.
When Dan married his wife, Barbara, she had already known since age 7 what her husband did for a living. "We actually grew up together," she said. It was never "weird," she said, when they began dating. "There was no surprise," she said. "There was no acclimation at all."
Since they married 31 years ago and had three daughters, Barbara has been assisting her husband. For the past 12 years she has coordinated the home's after-care program, which consists of literature and resources designed to help families through their grief. "This is something that Barbara started," Dan said.
She has also spoken at schools to help parents educate themselves and their children about death and grief. "They need to know they are not alone," said Barbara. "You try to be there for the family."
The funeral business has changed dramatically over the past 100 years. Today, more and more people find out on the Internet what services funeral homes offer, such as pre-planning, burial and cremation services, Fullerton said.
For instance, more families have opted for cremation instead of purchasing a grave, which remains expensive. In 2000, cremation accounted for 26 percent of funeral services in the U.S., according to the National Funeral Directors Association, and its acceptance among various religious faiths is growing due in part to a greater understanding of the value to families. "It seems to be a more modern way of doing things," said Fullerton, though his funeral home offers both traditional and non-traditional burial and cremation services.
Pre-planning for funerals is also on the rise, a trend that the NFDA attributes to the aging baby boom generation and to a growing sensitivity to ensuring that an individual's preferences are met, whether they involve church services or a simple memorial at the funeral home. Many also pre-plan to reduce burden on their family or friends. "A lot of people [pre-plan], as people face their own realities," said Fullerton.
For the Fullertons, that reality has sometimes had a personal impact. As lifelong Baldwin residents, they have provided services to people close to them. "It's always more difficult," said Barbara. "When it's someone you know, it makes it personal."
Robert Frost wrote that "nothing gold can stay." For the Fullertons, perhaps the service that provides a connection to a lost loved one will eventually be handed down yet again. "I have two unmarried daughters," said Barbara. "You never know. Maybe we'll have a fourth generation."
