A funeral home that celebrates life

With nearly a century of experience, D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes has helped thousands of families from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and many religious faiths. We share a common bond with those who grieve and have a deep passion for guiding them through what can be a difficult process.

Before helping you plan a personalized funeral that leaves an indelible impression of the life lived, we consider your family’s priorities, traditions and budget—and get to know your loved one. With the utmost professionalism and kind hearts, we partner with you to create a unique event.

Whether you are seeking a simple cremation service; a full traditional funeral with a graveside committal and cemetery burial; or a celebration of life with a band, catered reception, and a send-off that reflects the passions of your loved one, we go the extra mile to make it happen—and we do it with the utmost level of care and compassion.

Cremation services

We specialize in cremation services that honor loved ones in personalized ways, and families love our transparent pricing. With expertise in scattering ashes and a friendly team who pays attention to every detail, we provide service that is second to none.

More and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burial, but most aren’t familiar with the many options:

• a cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind.
• a funeral with your loved one present, followed by cremation.
• a cremation followed by a scattering, cemetery memorialization or celebration of life—or all three.

For those who wish for a more momentous memorial, Neptune Memorial Reef is an underwater cremation garden off the coast of Florida. A Celestis Memorial Spaceflight takes ashes into space for a little while or forever.

There are many options for cremation—and they're not all equal. Here's what you can expect when you choose us for your loved one's cremation:

• Custody of care guaranteed. Our custody-of-care program helps safeguard the identification of your loved one from the time we bring them into our care until the time we return them to your family. We check, cross-check and check again, every step of the way.
• Exclusive custody of your loved one. We use only crematories owned and operated by Dignity Memorial^® providers or trusted partners. Once your loved one is in our custody or that of a trusted partner, they’re in our care until they’re returned to your family.
• Licensed, certified, conscientious staff. All Dignity Memorial crematory operators are licensed and certified by Cremation Association of North America, or CANA. Only one person at a time is cremated, and the cremation chamber is thoroughly cleaned before the next person is cremated.

Read more about our cremation services.

Neighbor and neighborhood institution

Our Lake Avenue location opened in 1928. It is the flagship of D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes and a cornerstone of the Fort Wayne business community. Just north of downtown and 2 blocks from the city’s treasured Lakeside Park & Rose Garden, the funeral home is centrally located in and easily accessed from all parts of Allen County. The neighborhood funeral home is a familiar landmark to those who live here; our staff members are trusted friends.

Our investment in the Fort Wayne community includes sponsorship of numerous charities and events. It also includes an annual holiday celebration that brings together those who seek comfort and want to remember the ones they have lost. Our annual grief seminar with renowned Dr. Alan Wolfelt is free and open to the public.

In so many ways, we are here for you. Please contact us if you need immediate assistance planning a funeral or would like more information about planning a funeral ahead of time.

History

In 1925, D.O. McComb saw a need. Though there were already 27 funeral homes in Fort Wayne, the former superintendent of Allen County Schools took a leap of faith and opened another. Two decades in public education had earned D.O. the respect and trust of the Fort Wayne community, and the funeral home served 20 families from its East Lewis Street location that first year.

D.O. opened a second funeral home location, Lakeside Park, in 1928. His sons Walter and David joined their dad’s company in 1940, growing the business to serve not only families with funeral needs, but also those who needed emergency ambulance service. The Lakeside Park Funeral Home has been renovated throughout our history, meeting the increasing demand for exceptional-quality funeral and cremation care.

Continued funeral home expansion

In 1985, D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes formed Estate Security Inc., a business focused on prearranged funerals. Estate Security is now one of the largest funeral pre-planning firms east of the Mississippi River.

Today, D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes comprises 6 locations—Lakeside Park, Foster Park, Maplewood Park, Pine Valley Park, Covington Knolls and the Tribute Center—serving families all over Fort Wayne and surrounding areas. The Tribute Center, which opened on West Main Street in 2012, is a crematory and multipurpose building for receptions and more.

D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes is also affiliated with Mungovan Simple and Birkmeier Monument Company.

Upholding a tradition

D.O. McComb was a man of innovation and, in the tradition of our founder, D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes continually responds to the changing needs of our community. The Lakeside Park funeral home has seen a number of transformations and renovations in its 90-year history. A major remodeling in 2000 expanded the central business office and added the Arrangements Center.

Along the same lines, D.O. McComb & Sons joined the Dignity Memorial® network in 2016, allowing us to provide you with both trusted local service and a comprehensive range of benefits from the largest group of funeral, burial, cremation and cemetery service providers in North America.

Funeral Arrangements Center

When we remodeled the Lakeside Park location of D.O. McComb & Sons in 2000, we carefully considered the evolving needs of the Fort Wayne community and decided that a standalone building dedicated to funeral planning was in order. The Arrangements Center sits across the courtyard from the funeral home proper and serves as a central location for families from all our funeral homes to make at-need funeral arrangements or pre-plan funerals.

One standout feature is the casket selection room. Recognizing that people have different preferences when it comes to choosing funeral products—some are comfortable with choosing a casket from a multimedia catalog and some want to touch and feel before they choose—we provide the opportunity for both at the Arrangements Center.

Markers, monuments and mausoleums

As an added benefit to the families we serve, we partner closely with Birkmeier & Sons Monument Company. Since 1880, the family-owned monument company has helped Fort Wayne families discover, create and customize monuments that commemorate the lives of loved ones in unique and memorable ways. They offer a wide variety of memorialization options, including bronze markers, mausoleums, benches, uprights and flat markers.

Annual grief support seminar

Devoted to helping the Fort Wayne community deal with one of the more difficult aspects of life, D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes brings a highly regarded grief specialist to the area once a year for a free seminar on grieving and grief support. The topic changes yearly and is always focused on supporting any Fort Wayne community member who is interested in learning about grief support, as well as to professional caregivers who seek continuing education credits. Many people find this information extremely helpful for themselves—and for those they love.

Pet cremations

D.O. McComb & Sons Funeral Homes wants to be there for your whole family—including your cherished pets. For pet owners who wish to memorialize their furred and feathered creatures, we offer cremation services for all sizes of dogs, cats and birds, as well as other pets up to 300 pounds.

You may bring your pet to us or have us pick up at your home or veterinarian’s office. Cremations take place at our Tribute Center crematory in a cremation retort reserved just for animals. Pet cremations are not co-mingled, so you receive back only your pet’s cremated remains in an urn of your choosing. Should you wish to bury your pet—there is a nearby pet cemetery with a beautiful country setting—our memorial partner, Birkmeier Monuments Company, can create a lovely natural-stone marker for your pet’s grave.