Garden State Funeral Directors Association is an organization of licensed funeral service professionals in New Jersey. The organization was begun so that like minded funeral directors and embalmers could gather, exchange ideas and discuss funeral service particularly as it applied to African American funeral service professionals. Our early membership included both male and female licensees. Garden State members are also members of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, an international association of funeral service professionals. We welcome your membership, and invite you to fellowship with us.
The Garden State Funeral Directors was birthed from the Independent Funeral Directors Association. These associations were born because in early 1900s and into the 1960s, African Americans were not permitted or allowed to join mainstream funeral service organizations. A talk with older funeral directors will reveal that there were often ‘colored’ parts of cemeteries, and African American funeral directors were not allowed to bring funeral processions through the front gates of some cemeteries. Despite this, early African American pioneers in funeral service persevered giving the families they served the best service they possible could.
One of the first African American women that we know to enter funeral service was Leah Miller. She opened her funeral home in 1875 in Camden New Jersey. Right next store to the funeral home was her husband’s cabinet making shop which we can also imagine served to provide coffins. The Miller funeral home continues to be family owned and operated.
Further north in 1899 Rev. James Churchman opened a funeral home in Orange, NJ. In 1913 Mary Colson Woody opened Woody Home for Services in Orange, NJ. Interestingly the later respectively became the first president and secretary of the NAACP of the Oranges.
Officially, the Garden State Funeral Directors Association was formed in the early 1950s. Some early members included Joseph Judkins, Adele Brown, Johnny White, Arthur Anderson, Sr., Robert Martin, Luke Dancey, James Beckett and William Dabney. In later years other directors joined, including but not limited to Mr. Flippen in Atlantic City, Mr. and Mrs. Donaway of Atlantic City, Gretchen Waples, Carl Miller, Charles Bullock, Reuben Hooper and Emmet Lewis. These are our foremothers and forefathers. We owe them a debt of gratitude and a vote of thanks. Because of them, we are proudly The Garden State Funeral Directors Association.
