The funeral business has changed in the century since Harry Sullivan made the transition from an accounting career.
“The first location was really just a storefront, because they were still doing wakes and everything in homes,” funeral director Brian Sullivan said of the venture his great-grandfather launched in Chicago’s Marquette Manor neighborhood in 1924.
For 100 years the Sullivan family has served grieving families, helping them navigate one of the most difficult episodes of life.
“By the time you get done with the services and the family is happy, that’s one of the most rewarding things,” Brian said.
Brian’s father Terry — still working at age 76 — said walking alongside clients more than once is especially gratifying.
“That means a lot. Obviously they felt good about the first experience,” he commented.
Terry said the custom of at-home services changed after World War II. Sullivan maintained a Chicago location until 1994, but now operates out of its Downers Grove location and the Hinsdale facility it took over from Gibbons Elliston Funeral Home at 60 S. Grant St. on July 2, 2015. Two days after the purchase, Brian discovered a notable quality of the site during the village’s Independence Day parade.
“I had no idea the location we had,” he remarked of its spot on the parade route. “People came up to us and said, ‘Thank you so much for opening the building, I used to come here as a kid.’ ”
Brian recalled spending time in the Marquette Manor funeral home as a kid.
“We’d be there at night when my dad was working. Growing up we’d have dinners there, running up and down the halls, hiding,” he fondly recounted.
But he wasn’t necessarily sold on becoming the fourth generation to run the business. He’s thankful Terry didn’t pressure him to do so.
“In high school I worked at a mall. I caddied for a while. I worked at a bank, I was down at the board of trade,” Brian related. “(My dad) always would make us go do different jobs.”
The summer before his senior year in college he gave the family business a try.
“I liked it but I still didn’t know if that’s what I was going to do,” he said.
But the time graduation approached he had decided to go to mortuary school and get his license. He looks back grateful for his decision.
“I’m not at a computer all day long, I’m out at churches, cemeteries, hospitals,” he said. “You do get to meet a lot of people and become friends with them after you’ve had services with them, which is one of the neatest things about the job.”
That sometimes means frigid or sweltering days at a graveside service, but the outfit doesn’t change.
“We’re probably one of the only businesses left that wears a suit every day,” Brian quipped.
He’s thankful for longstanding employees who understand the unique dynamics of the business. And he’s been touched at the response to the celebratory centennial banner hung above the Grant Street entrance.
“It’s kind of neat how many people stopped me and said something,” Brian said.
— by Ken Knutson
