Frank E. Campbell, The Funeral Chapel: Easing People Home

So many people have written so many things about the Frank E. Campbell funeral home of 1076 Madison Avenue at East 81st Street, it almost seems redundant to, like Steely Dan sang, “do it again.” Almost but not quite, for in those 128 years of mortuary history lies such an abundance of compelling, overlooked and sometimes strange New York City lore, the bigger problem becomes not repetition but what, of many hundreds of faded anecdotes should one share to illuminate just how remarkable “the funeral home to the stars” really is.

How ironic then what happened to Campbell after his death. He’s now in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, the final home of Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Fiorello La Guardia, and RMS Titanic victims Isidor Straus and Ida Straus, among many other eminent figures, but how he got there is quite a story.

The short version follows. Campbell a small-town Illinois boy born on July 4, 1872, having worked in a lumber company furniture shop that also made coffins and conducted undertaking, moved to New York at the age of 20. Wanting to pursue the trade further, Campbell went to work for Manhattan’s leading undertaker, the Stephen Merrit Burial Company, then at 241 23rd Street near 8th Avenue. Campbell excelled and in 1898, he opened his own funeral business nearby, naming it Frank E. Campbell–The Funeral Church. Among his notable qualities, Campbell was courteous, ecumenical, egalitarian and comforting.

These value of these traits might seem obvious but Campbell stood out. He also believed in advertising, clever but dignified. “When Death Occurs” was one frequent pitch in Campbell’s newspaper ads. “The Misnamed Dead” was more allusive, going on to quote what sounds like a hymn but doesn’t offer any provenance: “Onward and upward, together we tread / We, the living, and they the misnamed dead.” Success fed on success and by 1915, Campbell opened another location at Broadway and 66th Street.

Big funerals and immense wakes followed: Italian opera hero Enrico Caruso in August 1921, with Campbell himself playing a record of the tenor singing “Largo” from Handel’s “Xerxes.” Film star Rudolph Valentino in August 1926, with upwards of 30,000 people attending his viewing. (Days later, an estimated 100,000 people would stand outside St. Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church on West 49th Street for Valentino’s funeral.)

Despite Campbell’s eminence, his business wasn’t wholly beloved. In 1928, having announced plans to build their Madison Avenue location at a cost of $1,000,000, a group called the East Eighties Neighborhood Protective Association opposed the construction, asserting it would lower local property values from 25 to 33 percent.

When Campbell died on Friday January 19, 1934, one of the first obituaries read:

“Frank E. Campbell, president and founder the Campbell Funeral Home at Broadway and 66th St., Manhattan, died suddenly at his home, 1 Bay Ave., Larchmont, NY. He was 65.

Many of the largest funerals seen in this city were conducted by Mr. Campbell the most sensational being that of Rudolf Valentino. He also conducted the burials of Texas Guinan, Jeanne Eagles and Anna Held... Services will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Campbell chapel.”

A private burial ceremony was held at Bergen Crest Mausoleum in North Bergen, New Jersey, where Campbell’s mother, Malvina, already lay. Exactly why he was placed in a massive, solid bronze casket weighing 1,400 pounds is unclear but it was too large for his intended vault. Instead, someone put Campbell and his casket in a closet under a staircase and... eventually it was forgotten.

“Sopranos” fans, who recall the funeral of Joey Peeps and thought that was the biggest New Jersey burial mistake possible—“Peeps” was his nickname, his real surname was Peparelli, and yet the headstone reads Joseph John Peeps, Devoted Son—now have a challenge.

Frank E. Campbell Carries On

Cambell’s funeral business, meanwhile, was taken over by his wife, Amelia. She became a licensed undertaker herself, and expanded its brand with radio advertising. When she died in 1954, she chose to be cremated: no storage problem there! Frank and Amelia’s son, Frank Jr., sold the business and pursued his passion, which was yachting. He and his family moved to Florida, where he died in West Palm Beach in 1976. He too was cremated.

After going through multiple owners, in 1971 the business was purchased by Service Corporation International of Houston, Texas. Today, they are the owners of Frank E. Campbell, and more than 1,900 other funeral homes across the United States and Canada. Their headquarters, in a gleaming 12-story glass and concrete building west of downtown Houston, is sited near Buffalo Bayou and numerous nearby historic cemeteries.

Because Frank E. Campbell has such a renowned—even revered—name, many people don’t realize it’s part of America’s largest funeral corporation. In the late 1980s, then Frank E. Campbell President Eugene Schultz went to Bergen Crest Mausoleum and was shocked the casket of his professional namesake’s casket still sitting there, dirtied with age, under the stairs more than 50 years later.

Failing to find any way to have Campbell properly entombed at Bergen Crest, Schultz reached out to Campbell’s surviving family and finally, in October 2001, the undertaker and his mother were given a dignified burial at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Carrying on this legacy is the current President of Frank E. Campbell, The Funeral Chapel, William Villanova. If ever a man found his true calling in life, Villanova is one, and speaking with him elicits equal feelings of reassurance and inspiration. If you gotta go, this is the guy to go with.

Asked how he got into the industry, Villanova credited his godfather—no, not that “Godfather,” though Frank E. Campbell did host the funeral of former Manhattan mob boss Frank Costello in February 1973.

“I first experienced the funeral home environment as a young boy while working for my godfather,” Villanova explained, “helping with landscaping and providing basic assistance around the funeral home. As I grew older, I became more involved in the day-to-day operations while attending middle school and high school. When I was 16 years old, my father passed away, and I began spending even more time with my godfather at the funeral home. I later attended college, earned my degree in mortuary science, and began my career as a licensed funeral director.”

If someone, inspired by plight of Joey Peeps or the surety of Villanova himself, wanted to enter the funeral industry, what’s a good way to do so?

“The best way is to speak with a reputable funeral director in a well-established funeral home. For many years I have supported and provided guidance for people interested in our profession. I encourage anyone interested in a career in funeral service to call me at: 212-288-3500. I would be glad to take your call.”