Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home at Manasota Memorial Park

Creating a personal ceremony

At Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home, our job is to listen to your stories about your loved one, help ask important questions about how you want to remember them and then create a service that exceeds those expectations. For many, the recollection of favorite songs, events in time and stories (both funny and serious) help create the memory, which is completed with our funeral directors.

Our personal services have been recognized by a national organization as being the best. We strive to do the same for every family. Our chapel has accommodated many different faiths and religions adding to the culture of the area. We can have both indoor and outdoor receptions based on the families wishes.

We honor veterans

At Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home, we understand the unique needs of America’s veterans and their families. As a Level Three Founding Community Partner with We Honor Veterans, our staff is knowledgeable in the benefits available to veterans and their families. With respect, integrity and dignity, we will walk you through the steps of creating a veteran's memorial service that truly honors the life and sacrifice of your loved one.

Manasota Memorial Park cemetery

Manasota Memorial Park is close to 100 years old and has many of the early leaders of the Manatee and Sarasota areas within the memorial park. It has also grown across State Road 70 to include an orange grove that was overtaken by oak trees.

Today, reaching over 40 acres, Manasota Memorial Park has matured into a location of lush trees, beautiful award-winning landscaping and a botanical garden for cremation.

Manasota Memorial Park offers many options for families to choose from, such as traditional ground burial, aboveground entombment in a mausoleum, cremation niches, private mausoleum, private niche placement, bench setting and brick wall niches. Each can be customized to a family’s specific needs.

History

The rich history of Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home at Manasota Memorial Park in Manatee County entwines with the stories that built our community.

In 1925, Harry Kellim and George Thacker purchased 27 acres of land in Oneco, Florida, to create a cemetery named Manasota Burial Park. A crematory was added in 1945, and after Harry’s death in 1949, his widow bought Thacker's interest. She set out to expand and improve the already highly regarded cemetery. In 1957, Ms. Kellim purchased a 16-acre orange grove across Oneco Road, which serves today as the site of the funeral home, a number of additional memorial gardens and the magnificent cremation garden.

Mausoleum features from around the world

Construction of the first mausoleums began in 1958. Ms. Kellim traveled throughout Portugal, Spain and Italy in search of the finest marble for the new mausoleums and its gardens. She finally settled on the famed Fedele Andreani D'fili of Carrara, Italy, widely regarded among the oldest and finest quarries in the country.