Curran Funeral Home prioritizes families, community during 50 years of business

Being a co-owner and funeral director at Curran Funeral Homes is a full-circle experience for James Kunkle, 48, of Vandergrift.

Kunkle’s father, Arthur “Art” Kunkle, 70, of Apollo, purchased the funeral homes in 2002 after Gary Curran’s passing. Art Kunkle worked by Curran’s side for years before his death. Curran had owned and operated the business since 1975.

“It’s been owned and operated by the Kunkle family since then,” James Kunkle said. “We still keep the Curran name to keep the legacy of Gary Curran alive.”

Kunkle and his team have been helping Alle-Kiski Valley families through times of mourning for the past 50 years from their four locations: Curran-Shaffer Funeral Home and Crematory in Apollo, Curran Funeral Home in Leechburg, Curran Funeral Home in Saltsburg and Brady-Curran Funeral Home in Vandergrift.

As the business celebrates five decades of service this year, members of the Curran team look back on their work over the years and look to what the future holds.

A family affair

Each member of the team was drawn to the business either by family or friends that tie them to the Curran locations.

Kunkle learned the ropes at the Curran Funeral Home, where he interned for his father and Curran.

After graduating from mortuary school, Kunkle practiced in Reading, Berks County, before returning to the area in 2007 and becoming a co-owner and funeral director for Curran Funeral Homes.

“The stars were aligned for me to come home,” he said.

Kunkle didn’t return alone. His longtime co-worker and friend Norm Connors, 52, of Natrona Heights moved to the area in 2010 to help with the business. Aside from a few years, the two have worked together since graduating mortuary school, Connors said.

For a while, Connors and Kunkle were the only boots-on-the-ground workers rotating between all four businesses.

Funeral director and certified celebrant Matthew Berger, 37, of Vandergrift has been with the business since 2018.

He graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 2020 and was with Curran through the pandemic. Though he was limited in hands-on experience while in school during the pandemic, he made up for it through the sheer volume of calls the business received during that time.

“I kind of started out at the highest level,” Berger said. “I think it was a really good learning experience being that high volume that we were dealing with at the time.”

Berger found his way to the business after working at True Green, a lawn care service. His father-in-law was working part time at Curran, and Berger began working alongside him during his off seasons. It didn’t take long for the Kunkles and other staff members to realize Berger would make a great full-time addition.

“He caught on very quickly,” Kunkle said. “It was obvious.”

Kunkle offered Berger the option of going back to True Green or a full-time position while he pursued a degree in mortuary sciences.

“I thoroughly enjoy my job, and there’s never a day I dread going to work,” Berger said.

Gwen Hessom, 20, of Allegheny Township has a unique connection to the business.

In 2014, at age 9, she was at Curran’s Leechburg location for a funeral. She was waiting in the chapel area near the visitation room as her family members handled the adult responsibilities of making final arrangements.

This was where Connors found her making friendship bracelets.

“Norm came in and asked me to make him a bracelet,” she said.

Conners said he has a drawer where he stores all of the keepsakes people have given him over the years as ways to say thank you. He has received coins, medals and even a diamond ring.

“I still have it,” Connors said. “I keep everything everyone gives me. I still have that bracelet.”

Keeping the business alive

The connection the Curran team has with each other extends to the families they serve.

“We treat people that we serve the best we know how,” Art Kunkle said.

That simple idea is what has led Curran Funeral Home through 50 years of successful business. They pride themselves in building relationships with the people they serve, Connors said.

“Our personalization and the different things we help families with go far beyond just the funeral,” James Kunkle said. “We help families through pensions, life insurance policies, and we’re always there. Whether it be a week after the funeral or four years after the funeral. We’re there to help any way we can, and we’ll never stop doing that.”

Since the business has its own crematorium, it’s able to personally handle and provide aftercare for the families and pet services for those grieving furry family members. Art purchased the crematorium in 2004 to be able to offer people whatever they may need.

“We tell people we can take care of it,” Kunkle said. “No matter what it is within our industry, we want to be able to handle it under the four roofs we operate.”

Family members are encouraged to bring anything they think will honor their lost loved one.

“We’ve had motorcycles, kayaks — we had a helicopter,” Kunkle said.

Berger said they’ve had families request specific forms of transportation. Recently, instead of transporting a man to the funeral service in a hearse, his family requested he be placed in the flatbed of his truck.

“We made it happen for them,” Berger said.

To further enhance the services they offer to customers, all of the directors are certified celebrants. If a family isn’t religious or does not want to host a religious ceremony for their deceased loved one, they can opt for the business’s offered services. Connors leads most of the sessions since he has the most experience with public speaking.

“We sit down with them for hours and just share stories,” Connors said. “Then (during the service) we get up, and tell the story of the person’s life.”

He said the celebrations have helped people deal with their grief and adds a lighter, happier mood while remaining respectful on a dark day. Sometimes he’s asked to give a celebration of life tribute service in addition to a religious service.

“It flipped the script on what a funeral service has to necessarily be,” Connors said.

Community outreach

Kunkle said the Curran Funeral Home is emphasizing getting younger in the business. They have an internship program through Kiski Area High School’s work release program.

During the school year, four students worked with the funeral home for about 20 hours a week.

“They’ve worked viewings, they’ve worked funerals,” Kunkle said. “Of course, they’re more behind the scenes, but it’s important to get them involved in our profession or a professional atmosphere.”

Hessom said she ended up in the profession because she was interested in how funeral services combined multiple sciences, history and art.

When she was completing her second semester of mortuary school, she began her practicum, a hands-on experience to see how the business works, for almost a year with Curran. She graduated from mortuary school in January and has been a full-time intern since.

“I love it,” she said.

Hessom said she has been thriving under the tutelage of the Curran staff.

“I love the atmosphere,” she said. “It’s different every day, so you never get tired of it.”

In an effort to reach younger people, Connors said, Hessom is going to be starting and running the funeral home’s social media pages.

“She’s going to help us speak to the younger people through social media to maybe break down the stigmas of our industry,” Connors said.

Aside from opening the business to the younger generation, the funeral home offers a service each Veterans Day to honor every veteran they served in the calendar year, Connors said. This November will be the 22nd service.

The business also offers education sessions for the public called Lunch and Learns to help people be prepared when the time comes to make final arrangements for themselves. The education goes over the options people have when making a plan for their own funerals.

“It’s educating people about how important it is to have some type of arrangement on paper,” Kunkle said.

Connors said preparations being made ahead of time have really helped families avoid emotional decision-making and spending money they might not need to spend.

“It’s a labor of love for all of us,” Connors said.