COMPANY HISTORY

Our company began in 1961 when J.P. Roberts and his brother Chester Roberts purchased land north of Wooster and started Sherwood Memorial Gardens. They also started Eastlawn Memory Gardens in Brunswick and Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Wadsworth in the mid-and-late-sixties.

During the 1970’s, JP and Chester split their multi-state company, and JP’s oldest son, Greg, joined his father in business. JP purchased another cemetery, Wood County Memorial Gardens, in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Two sons, a cemetery, and a funeral home were added in the 1980’s. Jeff and Kirk Roberts came to work for their father; Ashland County Memorial Park, one of our most beautiful cemeteries, joined our family; and Ohio’s first cemetery/mortuary combination, Roberts Funeral Home – Sherwood Chapel, Wooster, was established.

The 90’s brought Alex Roberts, the youngest of the 4 sons, and the addition of our second funeral home/cemetery combination: Roberts Funeral Home – Hillcrest Chapel in Wadsworth. In 1997, J. P. Roberts officially retired and four his sons now own and operate the company.

As we moved into the 2000’s, we looked to grow the organization through acquisition and the addition of our third funeral home/cemetery combination, and a crematory. We created American Cemetery Services as the parent company of the cemetery holdings, and in 2001 – 2002 14 cemeteries were added to our family. In addition, Roberts Funeral Home – Ashland Chapel and the Remembrance Cremation Center, our on-site crematory, were established.

With the exciting growth in this decade, each of the four second-generation owners has taken different areas of responsibility. Greg Roberts works with our Family Service staff to ensure proper training on the services and merchandise offerings; Jeff, a licensed funeral director, works as our Chief Financial Officer and serves our funeral home families; Kirk, also a licensed funeral director, oversees all of the cemetery operations to make certain that all of our cemetery grounds are properly maintained and that our administrative staff are prepared to keep accurate and up-to-date records; and Alex Roberts, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, oversees the funeral home operations to make sure that all of our funeral home families are given the highest level of compassion, unquestioned dignity, and professional service.

COMPANY PHILOSOPHY

Every employee in our company carries a pocket card that reads, “We pledge to treat every family as if they were our own, and today, your family is our family.” We use these pocket cards to train our employees to make the right decisions. We often ask, “If it were your mother, would you have done anything different?”

Roberts Funeral Home and American Cemetery Services is a company whose goal is to provide families with the best possible service and merchandise available, and to have a reputation of being an ethical company throughout those communities. We have been innovators in our industry from the beginning, and are constantly looking for new ways to honor and celebrate those that are so important to the families we serve.

Prearranging cemetery and funeral items before there is a death in the family makes sense. It is a fact that families will spend more after a death occurs, than if they had purchased those items before a terminal illness or death occurs. It is our responsibility to assist our community in understanding the value in prearranging. That is why we offer planning guides and professional consultation services. Please contact us to get started today!