I always tell families, people know what they don't want, but they don't know what they do want. Ross DeJohn IIII'm going to treat you like I'm talking to my own family. I'm going to make suggestions based on what I would do for my own family. Ross DeJohn Jr.
The DeJohn family did not necessarily have “traditional” in mind when they built the newest member of DeJohn Funeral Homes & Crematory in Chester Township.
In fact, besides the word “funeral” on the sign outside, the over 10,000-square-foot building next to Guido’s Pizza Haven and Restaurant at 12811 Chillicothe Road emanates an energy of anything but death.
And that was by design.
“This location is different because what you’re seeing, the trend around the country is very much focused on the celebration of life,” said Ross DeJohn III during a recent interview in front of the large fireplace in the foyer of the new building. “The funeral homes they’re building around the country are more like event centers, so it’s not just funeral homes, we can have a wedding ceremony, etc.
“You’re seeing people becoming not as churched. They’re spiritual today, but they don’t have a formal religion they belong to. So we’ve created an environment that I think people like. It’s open, it’s comfortable, it allows you to have a ceremony here that can be done by a certified celebrant that is more focused on the life of the person.”
Ross III’s mother, Patricia DeJohn, worked with a designer to decorate the new funeral home, which is very airy and spacious, yet warm and comforting with earthy tones, and natural elements such as the stone fireplaces and a waterfall accent in the foyer.
But location and dcor aside, one of the biggest draws for DeJohn’s — and a main reason the family decided to build in Chester Township — is their partnership with the owners of Guido’s next door, which offers Guido’s Preferred Catering Service and two banquet room options in their new Generations Banquet Center.
“We’d been looking at Geauga County. Even 16 years ago, we were looking in the Bainbridge area, and about six years ago, Mike Albino from Guido’s came to us with this concept that he had this property here and he was going to be building a new restaurant and banquet center and had about 3 acres of land left on this vacant parcel of land,” said Ross DeJohn Jr., Ross III’s father. “He thought of us and knew our reputation and commitment to this industry and wanted to see if we would be interested in possibly forming an alliance out here.
“My son and I talked about this kind of concept years ago and said if we ever did anything down the road, it would be something with food and more of a celebration of life, a life tribute center as I say, people don’t like to go to funerals, but they like to celebrate life. So we sat down and talked (with the Albinos). I was 59 at the time. I just turned 65, so I didn’t know if it was something I wanted to do. But it made so much sense the families meshed well together. We complemented each other, so we decided to go forward with it.”
Besides both families being Italian, they also both have three generations of their families in the business. In addition to Ross III, the DeJohns have a son, Mark, and a daughter, Melissa DeJohn-Capretta.
“That’s how we came up with the concept of the ‘generations center,'” Ross Jr. said.
“The tie in with the food is huge,” Ross III added. “Funerals have always been about food going back multiple generations.”
Ross Jr. pointed out that before people had funeral homes, wakes were held at people’s homes, with food and continuous celebration.
“So it’s almost gone full cycle,” he said.
Patricia added, “That’s where you got ‘funeral parlor’ from, because funerals were once done in people’s parlors, which were their living rooms.”
Both the Albinos and DeJohns will coordinate services for families, who could have a service or ceremony of any kind at DeJohn’s and then a reception next door at Guido’s in the small or large banquet room.
DeJohn’s also has a caf room that can seat 20 to 30 people and serves as a place for the family of the deceased to stay in between visiting hours if they don’t want to go home.
As the DeJohns talked about how their tribute center came to fruition, a sense of family could be felt — marked especially with the gentle panting and nudges for attention of family dogs Coco and Magic.
Both Portuguese water dogs, Magic is a certified therapy dog and Coco is in training, Ross Jr. said, adding they are with the DeJohns all the time and tend to bring a sense of calm and healing to grieving families.
“A lot of times (if families are OK with it), I have them here when we’re making arrangements for the families. They love them,” he said. “A lot of families say they’d like to have the dogs there for the visitations.”
The family also wants to host some education seminars at the new facility, including a speaker series, Reiki workshops — which are already in the works for May and September — and other types of “wellness” programs.
“When someone dies, the healing process begins almost immediately and we try to help the families in that healing process,” Ross Jr. said. “Part of that as the funeral director is the service you plan. Today, it’s changing so much that transitional period, some people have wakes, some people have no services at all, so the wellness part is what we’re trying to accomplish with bereavement after care, Reiki, I’ve even thought about having once a week or once a month, a masseuse available, just different things.”
“We want to do things that bring people here that aren’t just sad or ceremonial, but educational,” Ross III added.
He emphasized their chapel/ceremony area — which has a full audio system for music, wireless microphones and cameras for recording and remote viewing of services — is the largest of all four of their locations and can seat up to 200 people, but can also be split into smaller rooms for simultaneous events.
The DeJohns also have funeral homes in South Euclid — the first home Ross Jr. and his father, Ross DeJohn Sr., bought in the 1980s from Flynn-Mylott, which was the third oldest funeral home in Cleveland at the time — Willoughby Hills and Chardon.
“A lot of our families that we’ve served over the years have moved out this way, from the South Euclid, Hillcrest area. This is where they’re settling, Bainbridge, Chardon, so we want to be able to kind of follow them in a sense,” Ross III said.
Patricia added the Chardon location came almost by accident when the family had offered to help the Ritondaro family with their funeral home, but then ended up buying it from them when they decided to retire.
“My daughter, son-in-law and grandson live above it. It’s an old Victorian home,” Patricia said. “And it doesn’t really have a community room to it because it’s an old home, so we’re thinking maybe people will come here.”
Patricia, who is certified in Reiki — an energy-based healing technique with Japanese roots — and is a life coach, holds two six-week bereavement sessions a year and also hosts pet bereavement groups every third Thursday of the month in Willoughby Hills.
She said she hopes to hold some of these groups in the Chester area in the future.
DeJohn’s offers pet cremation services as well, having recently donated services to the Stevens family in Chester Township whose home burned down Jan. 21, Patricia said.
“We’re more the boutique type of cremation, more one-on-one care,” said Ross III.
He said cremation in general, whether for pet or humans, is gaining in popularity.
“It’s about 40 percent now (of people who) are choosing cremation. You can still have the traditional service and be cremated or you could be cremated first and have any type of event, it could be a cocktail party, it could be music,” Ross III said, adding they are working on getting their liquor license to allow for more options for families.
Their approach is to let the families take the lead and to give guidance or services as they’re needed, whether regarding floral arrangements, catering or the ceremony itself.
“Funerals today, the definition is by the families. We’re just here to help facilitate it. We’re here to be almost an event coordinator, not the funeral director,”?Ross III said. “The families have to choose what they’re feeling is on really how traditional they want to go and how unique they want to go. We just want the families to feel that we’re respecting their wishes and comfortable enough to know that there’s really no rules in a sense, to what it has to be.”
Ross Jr. added most people they serve either have never planned a funeral service before or it’s been so long since they have, everything is foreign to them.
“I’m going to treat you like I’m talking to my own family,”?he said. “I’m going to make suggestions based on what I would do for my own family. If you’ve ever planned a wedding or a major event, that’s what it’s like, but with a wedding, you’re planning it in a year. With this, it’s a couple of days.”
Ross III said he always tells families he is there to educate them.
“I’m there to give you your choices and also to tell you why I feel that maybe you should do this or do that, but ultimately, it is your decision and ultimately you, as a family, will decide what is appropriate for you and what you feel,”?he said. “But it’s my responsibility as a professional to be able to give you all the options and maybe give you options that you haven’t even thought of. I always tell families, people know what they don’t want, but they don’t know what they do want.”
DeJohn’s in Chester is currently open for business and will have its official open house April 30. People are free to stop by anytime to tour the facility and ask any questions, the family said. Call 440-729-9800 for hours and more information or visit www.dejohnfuneral.com.
