According to this article from the Delaware County (PA) Daily Times Bridget Monaghan Wibble has completed the purchase of the historical Oliver H. Bair Funeral Home that was owned by her father since 2007.  Included in the ownership are the Montrose Cemetery and Memorials in Upper Darby and the Cumberland Cemetery in Middletown Township.

Again, according to the article, Monaghan Wibble also owns and operates the Monaghan Funeral Home in Red Hill and the Raffeo-DiCecco Funeral Home in Norristown.  According to the Monaghan Funeral Home website, Ms. Monaghan Wibble purchased the Monaghan Funeral Home in Red Hill from her father’s estate in 2023.  He had died in 2020.

The ownership timeline is a little bit fuzzy when trying to digest the information from two separate articles and the funeral homes’ websites, but what isn’t fuzzy is the desire for a daughter to carry on the work of her father.  In this article from the Town and Country News of Pennsylvania, Ms. Monaghan Wibble makes this comment, “Continuing the legacy of The Oliver H. Bair Company is both an honor and a responsibility.  My father instilled in me the importance of serving families with compassion, integrity, and respect. I am proud to carry that tradition forward.”

According to the Town and Country News article, “Monaghan Wible earned her undergraduate degree from The Pennsylvania State University and her funeral service degree from the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service in New York, NY. She became a licensed funeral director in 2012.

            While working full-time in the profession, she also earned her Juris Doctor degree from Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, DE and was admitted to the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars in 2015. She also runs a small law firm, Monaghan Wible Law LLC, focusing on estate planning and administration.”

• Here is the website of the Monaghan Funeral Home
• Here is the website of the Raffeo-DiCecco Funeral Home
• Here is the website of the Oliver H. Bair & Monaghan Funeral Home

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  Stories like this are more and more common and reflect the changing of the guard with funeral director owners.  Traditionally a male dominated role was expected to succeed the father in the family funeral home.  However, more and more we are seeing the succession of the funeral home being taken up by a female in the family.

That trend is expected to continue as today’s mortuary college students lean to a population that is about 75% or more female.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• A gentler, greener alternative to traditional funeral options.  The Story Exchange
• Funeral company posts $33 million in unrealized losses in crypto bet.  The Street – Yahoo Finance (South Korea)
• Matthews International announces partial redemption of preferred equity in Propelis.  PR Newswire
• State to target unlawful funeral practices.  The Chronicle (CT)
• U.S. Coffin prices up $100 last year.  Progressive Policy Institute
• New Howard County facility brings human composting to the East Coast.  CBS News – Baltimore (MD)
• Manatee County approves $100,000 for cemetery security after vandalism.  Video news story and print article.  WWSB TV – Sarasota (FL

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