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About Us
The Ford Family started in the furniture
business in Washington in the 1860s. Charles Ray
Ford, known to his friends & employees as C.R. became an
undertaker in 1891. Charles R. was a cabinetmaker and
like many others in that trade at the time was also an undertaker.
The letterhead at the furniture store read "Charles R.
Ford Cabinetmaking & Undertaking".
After Charles R. Ford died in 1926 his sons Fred Ford &
Charles H. Ford continued the family businesses. Charles
H. became a licensed embalmer and Fred who was very talented
and skilled at making the buttons used for the tufted interiors
of the caskets, carried on the family business. At the
turn of the century the combination of furniture making &
undertaking was as common as the horse & buggy. This
was a time in history when all the funerals were held in the
home of the deceased.
Most people were born, lived & died in the same house.
The funeral director would come to the house & embalm the
person in the bathtub. The family would usually dress
their loved one. The funeral director would deliver the
casket to the home. He would then transform the family
parlor into a Funeral Parlor, setting up chairs and hanging
drapes. The funeral director would hang a wreath with
black ribbon on the door to let the community know that the
family in this house was in mourning. Many funerals in
this time period would continue for days, sometimes even a week
depending on the person's class in society. The horse
drawn procession would travel from the family home to the cemetery.
At times the procession would be more like a parade then a funeral.
The deceased would be in the horse drawn hearse followed by
the widow's coach followed by the pallbearer's coach.
The residents of the town would stand on the curb and pay their
respects as the procession passed by. For a few moments
the entire town would stop and pay homage.
In 1938 Paul J. Ford, son of Charles H. opened the Ford Funeral
Home on Youmans Avenue in Washington. This was a huge
transition from the home-style funeral to having the family
and friends pay their respects in a funeral home. The
Funeral home operated there until 1962. At that time it
was moved to its present day location at 234 W. Washington Avenue.
The new home was built by the Cornish Family around the turn
of the century and has a large parking area to accommodate many
visitors. It is truly a family like setting.
In 1969 Paul Ford passed away; he was 57. His wife Harriet
continued to operate the funeral home with the help of local
funeral directors. The Maguire Family bought the Funeral
Home in 2001. Richard Maguire who has a degree in mortuary science
operates the funeral home as "Warren Hills/Ford Memorial
Home". "When we purchased the funeral home we
loved the building. There was something about the warm
feeling that surrounds you when you walk in the door.
It can be easily understood what the Fords must have seen in
the home when they purchased it." The Maguire Family
has made many improvements to restore the building back to its
original beauty and strongly believe that families should feel
as if they were in there own home, whether they are coming to
make pre-arrangements or say their final farewell to a loved
one.
When
cleaning out the attic Mr. Maguire found all the equipment that
was used to conduct the funerals many years ago in the home
of the deceased. The embalming machine, the old velvet drapes
that were used as a backdrop for the casket were as new as the
day they were placed in the box. The casket lamp, which used
to hang on the lid of the casket to illuminate the face of the
deceased as well as the old chairs that were set up in the residence.
All of this equipment was packed into large black steamer trunks
and was sitting as if ready for the next funeral. Mr. Maguire
has donated all of the old equipment to a horse drawn museum
in New Tripoli, PA.
Other
items that were found are Paul Ford’s Embalming & Funeral
Directing License from 1937, license number 1562 and a copy
of Charles R Ford’s Board of Undertakers & Embalmers license
number 40. This means that Charles R was the 40th person to
receive his license in the state of NJ. All of these licenses
were found discarded on the floor of the attic Mr. Maguire has
cleaned them up and displays them proudly on the wall of his
office. He also found another item of historical interest, the
funeral log from 1900-1924. Inside are the names of some of
the most prominent people in Washington at that time. These
were the same people that the streets in the Boro were named
after. The Cornish family is one that stands out. Mr. Maguire
is proud to be part of Washington and its history and is looking
forward to continuing the tradition of excellent care and outstanding
service established by the Ford Family |
