Darrell W. Main takes helm at Cleveland Funeral Home in Watertown By TED BOOKER TIMES STAFF WRITER THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2013 JUSTIN SORENSEN / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES Darrell W. Main purchased the Cleveland Funeral Home from Lynn S. Cleveland, whose photograph is to his left. Mr. Main will oversee operations at the funeral home’s three locations in Watertown, Cape Vincent and Chaumont. JUSTIN SORENSEN / WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES Darrell W. Main purchased the Cleveland Funeral Home from Lynn S. Cleveland, whose photograph is to his left. Mr. Main will oversee operations at the funeral home’s three locations in Watertown, Cape Vincent and Chaumont. ARTICLE OPTIONS A A Carthage native Darrell W. Main, who took over as the owner of Cleveland Funeral Home this month, plans to guide the business as its funeral director for a few decades, then pass it down to one of his sons. Mr. Main, who has served as a funeral manager at the Watertown funeral home since 2001, bought the business from Lynn S. Cleveland for $850,000. The sale included Cleveland’s funeral homes in Cape Vincent and Chaumont as well as Cleveland Services Medical Transport, which offers transportation for senior citizens and people with disabilities. Mr. Cleveland, who is semi-retired, will continue to serve as vice president of the company. Mr. Main, 39, will continue to operate the company under the name of the Cleveland family, which started the Watertown funeral home in 1952. The expansive two-story house at 414 Sherman St., a classical revival structure similar to the White House, was built by architect Henry Babcock in the 1860s. It was sold to the Cox family in 1929, before Mr. Cleveland’s father and grandfather, Harold W. and Howard M. Cleveland, purchased it. “I’m not going to change the name, because this has been Cleveland Funeral Home in Watertown” for a long time, Mr. Main said. “I’d like to continue the excellent service here for decades to come.” Mr. Main was groomed to become the owner of the funeral home for the past 12 years by Mr. Cleveland, who has owned the company for 19 years. Mr. Cleveland in 1994 bought the funeral home, which had been owned by Howard Miller and operated as H.D. Miller Funeral Home from 1988. The funeral home hadn’t been owned by the Cleveland family since 1970, when Harold M. Cleveland died. “Darrell has been a viable asset to the funeral home for the past 12 years,” Mr. Cleveland said. “He’s a member of the community who belongs to a number of organizations and has a family background in the city through his wife’s and parents’ families.” Owning a funeral home was a goal set by Mr. Main as a young man. As a teenager coming of age in Carthage, he spent his years doing odd jobs with his high school friend Cullen D. Lundy at Lundy Funeral Home in the village. At the time the business was owned by Cullen’s father, Samuel P. Lundy. Mr. Main went on to earn an associate degree in mortuary science from Canton College of Technology in 1994. Business has grown at Cleveland Funeral Home since Mr. Main was hired in 2001 as a funeral manager. The company at that time had recently launched Cleveland Services Medical Transport. The company operated only two vans in the beginning but now owns six and employs two full-time drivers and a driver scheduler who are on call to provide rides any time during the week. Elderly people who cannot drive are often eligible to receive Medicaid benefits to pay for transportation to medical appointments. “We now run the vans pretty much all day, every day, across Jefferson County,” Mr. Main said. When not busy at work, Mr. Main has a busy family life. He and his wife, Deltra L., have three children: Deltra-Elliott, 3; William J., 5, and Zachary D., 7. Mr. Main also has a son from a previous marriage, Dyllon J., 20. William and Zachary attend Faith Fellowship Christian School in Watertown, and Dyllon is a member of the Air Force serving at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. Mr. Main is a member of the Watertown Noon Rotary Club. He enjoys hunting and family camping trips during his leisure time. SHOW COMMENTS (0)
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 16:14:41 +0000
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