Brookside Funeral Home & Brookside Memorial Park

A culturally inclusive funeral home

Houston is a diverse city—and in the neighborhood of Aldine, where we’re located, our neighbors come from all walks of life. At Brookside Funeral Home, we are happy to incorporate your customs and traditions into a funeral or memorial service, no matter your religion, background or culture. As a non-denominational funeral home, we serve families of all faiths.

Houston also has a sizeable Hispanic population. To better serve our Spanish-speaking families, the Brookside Funeral Home team speaks both English and Spanish.

Chapels to meet every need

Whether you want a large gathering of family and friends or an intimate affair with close relatives, our funeral home has venues that can handle groups of all sizes. In addition to visitation and staterooms of varying sizes, which are best suited for small events, the funeral home has a large chapel with traditional pew-style seating for more than 200 guests. The chapel is simply decorated on purpose. We encourage families to personalize the space with mementos, photographs and decorations.

Our Hospitality Room has round, cafe-style tables and a large, modern kitchen—ideal for hosting catered receptions before, during or after a service.

The historic Chapel of Chimes, which sits in the center of the cemetery, is also a beautiful venue for a committal service. The stone building has 2 chapels, one larger than the other. If you listen carefully, you may be able to hear the chimes of the tower as you wander the cemetery grounds.

On-site crematorium

When it comes to providing cremation services, Brookside Funeral Home is a pioneer. In 1944, it became one of the first funeral homes in the state of Texas to have an on-site crematorium. At the time, there were only 3 crematoriums in the whole state. Originally, the crematorium was in the Chapel of Chimes, but today it is in a separate building on the property.

By providing an on-site crematorium, we offer more than just convenience, we offer peace of mind. You won’t have to worry about your loved one leaving our care. In addition, viewing the cremation is an important rite for many religions and cultures, and we are honored to provide this service. If you wish, cremated remains can be placed in Brookside Memorial Park or the cemetery of your choice.

Meaningful and memorable tributes

Every person’s life is special, and a unique life deserves a unique celebration. At Brookside Funeral Home, creating imaginative, one-of-kind services for loved ones is what inspires us to come to work every day. We take all of the passions, hobbies and interests that make a person special, weave them together, and create a heartfelt memorial like no other.

The possibilities are endless. A procession of antique cars from the funeral home to the gravesite can be arranged for someone who collected vintage automobiles. If she was all about the Roaring 20s, we could have a Great Gatsby-themed extravaganza in our chapel with flapper costumes, a jazz band and elegant hors d’oeuvres. Want something more traditional or religious? We can do that as well.

Here for you

The teams at Brookside Funeral Home and Brookside Memorial Park promise to serve you with excellence, dignity and honesty. As members of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery providers, we offer compassionate care, personalized service and valuable amenities you can trust.

Please call us for any reason. We are here for you day and night.

Brookside Memorial Park cemetery

Brookside Memorial Park is situated on 290 acres of land distinguished by majestic centuries-old oaks, tall pines, Spanish moss and a carefully tended lawn. In addition to its natural beauty, the cemetery also stands out for its regal monuments and statues, stately mausoleums and a vast array of burial choices. As a final resting place, Brookside Memorial Park is second to none.

Your burial choices

As a non-denominational cemetery, we promise to honor your burial traditions, no matter your religion, background or culture. We understand that every family has different burial needs and therefore strive to provide as many burial, entombment and cremation memorialization options as we can.

Our burial choices include traditional burial with flat markers, entombment in our garden mausoleums, private mausoleums, private estates, cremation memorial niches, columbaria, memorial benches and customized memorials.

For families who choose cremation, one of our most beautiful resting spots is in the Columbarium Room in the Chapel of Chimes. The Gothic-style room has a columbarium of gorgeous glass-front niches, which can be personalized with mementos, flowers, photographs and a customized urn.

Ready for the future

At Brookside Memorial Park, we’ve provided cemetery services for thousands of Houston-area families. We stand ready to serve thousands more. Our cemetery has plenty of room for future development. Plus, we stay up to date on the latest offerings and products in the cemetery industry.

History

In the late 20s, Ira Brooks, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, wanted to start a cemetery in the Houston area. Luckily for Ira, the Berry family owned Berry Cemetery, a 140-acre tract of land in North Houston. Ira approached the family and bought the land, establishing Brookside Cemetery in 1931. All of the sections of the cemetery that have “walkways” are part of the development that took place in the 30s.

From one Brooks to another

In that same decade, a speculator named Pierce Posey Brooks (no relation to Ira) bought out Ira’s interest in the business. It is undecided whether construction of the Chapel of the Chimes started with the ownership of Ira or Posey Brooks. But we do know that Brookside is named after Ira, not Posey.

Construction begins on Chapel of Chimes

In the early 30s, construction of the Temple of Prayer began, using salvaged stone from a Presbyterian Church that burned down on Main Street in downtown Houston. The Temple of Prayer is now called Chapel of Chimes. It was finished in 1944—the same year a crematory was installed at the cemetery. At the time, it was 1 of only 3 crematoriums in Texas and the first in Houston.

More ownership changes

Charles Saunders, a successful salesman and sales manager, had built up quite a large sales force at Forest Park Lawndale, a funeral home in Houston. In 1938, Charles decided that the cemetery business was a good business to be in, and he was determined to pursue ownership of a cemetery. The next year, he began managing Brookside Funeral Home, which was owned at the time by 2 attorneys in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. After Charles took the job as manager, he bought the funeral home and cemetery businesses.

Decades of service

Over the years, Brookside Funeral Home and Brookside Memorial Park have undergone many changes, but one thing that remains consistent is their dedication to providing the best service possible to families.

Resurrection Garden

We have many beautiful gardens at Brookside Memorial Park, but none is more spectacular than Resurrection Garden. Strongly reflecting the Christian faith, it has 3 focal points: a 60-foot-tall steel cross with a 120–niche columbarium at its base, a serene grotto for families to gather and share special memories, and 14 towers that stand more than 6 feet tall and are connected by 10-foot-tall steel arches. The towers are intended to portray the final hours of Jesus Christ and also hold cremation niches. Resurrection Garden is truly one of a kind.

Chapel of Chimes

Chapel of Chimes sits in the center of Brookside Memorial Park, alongside the historic Berry Cemetery, a family cemetery established before the Civil War that serves as the final resting place of many of the men who lost their lives during battle. Originally known as Temple of Prayer, construction of the Gothic-style chapel started in the early 30s and was completed in 1944. It was built of stone salvaged from a Presbyterian church in downtown Houston that burned down. The simple masonry architecture of the Chapel of Chimes is a perfect complement to the serene setting.

In 1944, a crematorium was installed in the chapel, the first in Houston and only 1 of 3 crematoriums in the state of Texas at the time.

When you step inside the main chapel, you may feel like you’ve been transported to another era. The vaulted cathedral ceiling and lancet arched stained-glass windows are reminiscent of a centuries-old European church. The chapel in the Columbarium Room is similar in style but is much smaller in size and is surrounded by walls of beautiful glass-front niches.

The chimes from the chapel tower can be heard from several places in the cemetery, and their tones add a soft soundtrack to many memorial services.