CLEARFIELD – Beardsley Funeral Home and Crematory Inc. of Clearfield and Curwensville, is proud to announce that Seth Beardsley is now partner and owner of the business, joining his father, Kevin Beardsley, who has owned the funeral homes since 1991 and Brock Shaffer, who has been a partner since 2011.
Even though Seth has been with the funeral home since 2011, he has been around the business for nearly his entire life.
Seth and his family lived upstairs at the funeral home until he was six or seven years old, so his first recollections of life are in this building.
At age 16, he started assisting at funerals and viewings but was involved even before that. “When I was 12-13 years old, I would wash cars and do various tasks around the funeral home.
“I knew by my senior year of high school that this was the career path I would take and I’m very grateful and blessed to have the opportunity to continue to serve families of our community during their time of need.”
“My dad has left big shoes to fill, but I’m looking forward to following the path he paved for me and continuously improving our services” states Seth.
Seth graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 2018, after receiving his undergrad in business management from IUP in 2017.
He served a 12-month internship at the funeral home and became a fully-licensed funeral director in fall of 2019. He was recently named president of Beardsley Funeral Home and Crematory Inc. and serves as supervisor of the Clearfield location.
In addition, Seth is a Cremation Association of North America (CANA) certified crematory operator, a certified funeral celebrant and a licensed insurance agent for preneed sales.
Seth, born and raised in Clearfield, is a 2013 graduate of the Clearfield Area High School. While there, he was a member of three District 9 Champion Clearfield Bison football teams of which he was a team captain his senior year, as well as a team captain of the Bison basketball team for the 2012-13 season.
He is an active member of the community, serving on the Clearfield Community Pool Board, the Clearfield Revitalization Corp. Board and a member of the Knights of Columbus-Curwensville/Grampian Chapter 16090.
Kevin Beardsley recalls, “Ann and I have been very privileged to be able to serve our communities for over 30 years.
“As the business grew, we were again fortunate to have Brock Shaffer join our organization in 2007. Brock has not only been a tremendous asset to the funeral home but to the community as well.
“And of course, now we are overwhelmed with joy and pride that our son, Seth, has decided to continue in the business.”
Kevin and Ann purchased the former Leavy-Vailgorsky Funeral Home in 1991 and recently celebrated 30 years of owning the business.
Kevin has passed many of his managerial tasks onto Seth and both he and Brock continue to handle the day-to-day operations.
When asked if this means retirement is in the plans, Kevin responded by saying: “Being a funeral director for over 35 years, it’s hard to just walk away. Maybe semi-retired is a better way to say it. I’ll be around for as long as I’m able.”
Beardsley Funeral Home and Crematory, locally-owned and operated, is the only funeral home in the area with a funeral home and crematory under the same roof, which means your loved one never leaves their care.
They provide full funeral services with cremation or burial, advanced funeral planning and continuing care services after the funeral.