Toale Brothers Funeral Home: A century of comfort

Flashback to 1912: Sarasota was just coming into its own as a modern city. The town’s first train had rolled in fewer than 10 years earlier, and the famed John Ringling was spending winters in the budding town on which he would leave his cultural fingerprint.

Around this time, another Sarasota landmark was being formed.

George Thacker, a jeweler, civic leader and Sarasota’s first licensed undertaker, partnered with Floyd Van Gilder to form Thacker & Van Gilder Funeral Home — the first funeral home in the city.

Located on Main Street, the business carved its niche in the community, bringing Sarasota its first hearse, which doubled as the city’s ambulance. In 1948, Jack and George Toale purchased the funeral home, renamed it and led it to become one of the most lasting and iconic establishments in Sarasota.

Today, Toale Brothers Funeral Home & Crematory is in its third generation of Toale family ownership and will soon celebrate 100 years of business and community service.

Past to Present
Although Jack and George Toale purchased the funeral home, the family often credits their sister, Catherine Toale Christian, as the business’ true visionary. After graduating from the Cincinnati School of Embalming in 1930, she became the first female licensed embalmer and funeral director in Florida, and she encouraged her brothers to also earn their degrees from her alma mater.

In 1948, the brothers purchased Thacker & Van Gilder Funeral Home, which had since relocated to Orange Street, where it remains today.

From the beginning, the Toale family placed emphasis on building and maintaining its relationship with the community. Founding members Jack and George Toale were active in civic organizations, such as the Easter Seals, Rotary Club, Boys Club of Sarasota and Kiwanis. Jack Toale served as a city commissioner from 1953 to 1956.

“We’ve always tried to be an integral part of the community,” said Jason Toale, third-generation Toale and current president and CEO. “Our grandfather lived above the funeral home. It was a front-porch community; he would always talk to people as they walked by.”

In the late 1970s, the second generation of Toales, Robert, Curt and David, assumed leadership of the business. They continued the tradition of community service, and implemented the company’s first cremation services to adapt to an increasing demand from customers.

Now, the business is in the hands of the third generation of Toale brothers, Jason and Jeff, who after being present in the business throughout their childhood took the reins in December of 2006. The brothers admit that growing up in this particular family business wasn’t a typical childhood, but they enjoyed the chance to get to know the staff and help out when they could.

“We would come down and help out when we were younger, but we were never pushed to go into the business,” said Jason Toale. “That’s a conclusion Jeff and I came to on our own, after college. We saw an opportunity to work alongside our family.”

After college, both brothers initially pursued other career paths, but they each found that they felt much more at home in the family business.

“I just didn’t feel comfortable in a desk job,” said Jeff Toale. “I’d rather be out meeting people and talking with families to help them through a difficult time in their life.”

The two began shadowing their father, Robert, and their uncle, Curtis, to learn the ins-and-outs of the family business. They say there was a lot to learn.

“The best on-the-job training was being able to observe my father and my uncle interact with the families and see how they handled the situation,” Jeff said. “There’s a balance of being caring and being professional, and I try to emulate that.”

A family legacy lives on
As the company approaches its 100th year of business — no easy feat for any establishment — Robert Toale attributes the business’ success to its devotion to quality service, a willingness to adapt and the fact that the funeral home has managed to stay family-owned.

“A lot of funeral homes will maintain the family name, but they’re owned by larger corporations,” said Jason Toale. “We’ve been able to maintain family ownership for three generations. That’s becoming rare.”

When asked how that translates to day-to-day business, Jeff Toale points to a statement of purpose, written by Jack Toale at the company’s start:

“We intend for Toale Brothers to remain independently owned, to be flexible and change with the times, and always give people what they want.”

“When we first started out, things were very traditional,” said Robert Toale. “Now, we have celebrations of life, and some of them are literally celebrations.”

As trends in funeral services evolve, the Toale family says they are happy to adapt in order to give families the service they want.

“It’s that sense of compassion and personal touch,” said Jason Toale. “We recognize their loss, and we want them to find the right way to remember their loved one.”

Over the years, the family has seen a shift in traditional funeral services with an increase in the popularity of things like cremation, pre-planning and video memorial tributes. Some of the Toale family’s most memorable customized services have included releasing doves and balloons, decorating the chapel with a hat collection, golf clubs, hunting equipment and other items related to the deceased’s interests and using unique celebration-of-life locations, such as parks or museums.

“We’ve even had people who can’t make it (to the funeral) use Skype or FaceTime,” said Robert Toale. “I always encourage our staff to go in with a blank slate. If we think can do it, we’ll try to make it happen.”

In a business surrounded by grief and emotion, the Toales say they are proud to offer comfort to the members of the community in which they live, and they hope to continue offering their services for years to come.

“When you get that hug at the end of the service, that’s a really rewarding feeling,” said Jason Toale. “You can tell, without words, that you’re helping them through an emotional time.”

100 years of funerals
Early 1900s — Most deaths occurred at home and funeral directors would prepare the deceased and arrange the wake in the family’s home.
1950s and 1960s — Funeral services were mainly comprised of embalming, followed by a traditional funeral and burial ceremony.
1970s — Cremation services become a natural end-of-life option.
1980s — Across the country, attitudes toward traditional funerals change, as do financial considerations.
1990s — Pre-planning becomes the norm, as people put their of end-of-life wishes on record.
Early 2000s — Memorials get personal as they incorporate elements such as picture slideshows and montages.
Current — Funerals take on the term “celebrations of life,” with a wide range of modern and technological services available, including Skyping long-distance family members to be a part of the memorial.