Family trend started in the mid-1800s continues

Growing larger helps funeral home business hold down costs.
AUSTINTOWN -- Joe D. Lane said he was looking for a place to station an ambulance in Trumbull County and the next thing he knew he was in discussions to buy three funeral homes.
Lane, chief executive of Lane Funeral Homes, said the three deals, which were completed earlier this year, started because he was looking for a place in Niles to station an ambulance for Lane LifeTrans, of which he also is chief executive.
Officials at Reese Wynn Winyard McDermott-Laird Funeral Home in Niles told him, however, they were interested in selling the business. Those discussions led to Lane also buying Robert H. Roberts-Clark Memorial Home in Warren and the Shafer-Winans & amp; Lamer Funeral Home in Cortland.
Two years ago, Lane bought the Madasz Funeral Home in Brookfield.
Finding the right size
Lane said he will buy other funeral homes if the opportunity is right, but at some point the acquisitions will stop.
"You can get too big. We're trying to get to the point where we're the right size," he said.
The business has seven locations, including ones in Austintown, Mineral Ridge and Canfield.
So far, growing bigger has helped Lane Funeral Homes hold down its costs, Lane said.
With multiple funeral homes, it can spread out its personnel and equipment expenses. For example, the business needs only four vehicle fleets to cover its seven homes, Lane said.
Larger businesses also have an advantage when buying supplies and negotiating for health-care insurance, he said.
The funeral business employs 80.
Lane took over the business after his father, Joe O. Lane, died three years ago. The business was started by the younger Lane's great-great-great-grandfather, William Burford.
An immigrant from Wales, Burford started the business in Mineral Ridge in 1855 as a furniture manufacturer and undertaker. The business switched to providing only funeral services in 1934. The Austintown location was built in 1957 and expanded in later years.