Our heritage dates back to February 4th 1911, when John Joseph “J.J.” Patterson and his wife Annie purchased the Cronmiller Furniture and Undertaking business (established in 1874) located at 125 East Main Street in Welland. Funeral service was a lifetime dream for J.J. and in order to fulfill his dream he worked tirelessly on the construction of the Welland Canal to save enough money to purchase the business.
J.J. was a true service provider and who cared deeply about the families in his community and wanted them to have every amenity to provide comfort. With that philosophy it was no surprise that it wasn’t long after purchasing the business that J.J. constructed a new building and then continuously renovated to progress and serve the needs of his community in Welland.
The Port Colborne Citizen newspaper featured a section entitled the “Progress of Welland”. The following is an excerpt taken from the February 3rd, 1927 edition of the paper and it speaks volumes about J.J.’s philosophy of providing the utmost in care and facilities. “The equipment used by their firm is modern in every detail. An International truck is used for furniture delivery purposes while the funeral equipment included a beautiful Studebaker hearse, a new model funeral service car, a family coach, and first call car. The article then proceeds to highlight “A distinct department of Patterson and Sons service is the mortuarians business which they conduct with the highest degree of skill and efficiency”
