Chambers Funeral Home Records (MS 5073)

Chambers Funeral Home was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, by William F. Chambers, Sr. and his wife Agnes B. Chambers in 1933. The funeral home has catered to the burial needs of Cleveland’s west side Irish Catholics. The funeral home was originally located at the corner of West 85th Street and Madison Avenue in Cleveland, and moved to its current location at 4420 Rocky River Drive in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood in 1937. William Chambers died unexpectedly in 1950, and Agnes Chambers managed the business until her sons were old enough to take over beginning in 1955. The funeral home today is operated by third generation Chambers family members. Chambers Funeral Home has traditionally catered to Roman Catholics of Irish descent living on the west side of Cleveland. Parishes that have often had close ties to Chambers are St Patrick’s, Our Lady of Angels, St. Angela’s, Ascension Catholic Church, Annunciation, and others.

The records in this collection pertain to the first and second Chambers Funeral Home locations: West 85th Street and Madison Avenue and 4420 Rocky River Drive, Cleveland, and contain such genealogical information as birth and death dates, causes of death, address of the deceased, who the account was billed to, veteran status, physician’s name, death notice information, and place of burial, among others.

To assist in genealogical research, the Western Reserve Historical Society has indexed these records by name and death date.

This index allows researchers to search the burial books in MS 5073 Chambers Funeral Home Records, 1935-1955. The index provides the full name and death year of the deceased person. Once the researcher knows the year of death, the location of the funeral documentation can be ascertained from the collection finding aid descriptions which can be viewed here.

More detailed information, as described above, is provided in the WRHS Research Center Reading Room.

Researchers can access and make copies from the collection at the Western Reserve Historical Society Research Center Reading Room. Reference staff can provide copies for researchers unable to schedule a visit to the Western Reserve Historical Society. For information about the WRHS Research Center location, hours, admission fees, and research fees, contact the reference staff at 216-721-5722, x1509, or via email at reference@wrhs.org.