Dedicated care

Through the years, though times have changed and our business expanded, families have trusted us to provide exactly what they need and to honor their loved ones with services that uniquely reflect their lives. We continue to exceed expectations.

Beaches Chapel by Hardage-Giddens welcomes you with a professional team and a pledge to guide you through one of the more personal and challenging stages of life. We understand that losing a loved one is a difficult, emotional experience, and we are here for you.

Our charming, cottage-like funeral home includes an on-site chapel and a spacious reception area for gathering with friends and family.

Personalized funeral services

Beaches Chapel by Hardage-Giddens believes a funeral or memorial should be as unique as the person it honors. In fact, we take great pride in creating perfectly personalized services that beautifully capture the essence of you or your loved one. First, we help you find inspiration. Maybe it's in a song or a hobby. It could be a trademark style or a lifelong passion. Everyone has something that has defined their life. We turn that inspiration into a truly unique service filled with thoughtful and meaningful details.

You may want a traditional funeral service in our chapel followed by a catered reception, or you may opt for direct cremation with a scattering in the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps the occasion calls for a no-holds-barred celebration, complete with live music, favorite foods, personal tributes and hand-selected mementos. Either way, or anywhere in between, you'll find that there's virtually no limit to the special memorial we can create.

From guitars to golf, crab cakes to cupcakes, bird-shaped urns to blue marble monuments, we take the things that mattered to someone and bring them together to create a singular, heartfelt service.

We honor veterans

At Beaches Chapel by Hardage-Giddens, we understand the unique needs of America’s veterans and their families. As a Level One 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.

Exceeding your expectations

We are a member of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery providers. When you choose Beaches Chapel by Hardage-Giddens, you get not only the warm, friendly service you expect from a locally operated establishment, but also the value you deserve. Please call us for immediate assistance planning a funeral or if you would like more information about our services.

History

The history and tradition of Hardage-Giddens Funeral Homes begins nearly 90 years ago and has touched thousands of Florida lives.

The Hardage side of things

In 1929, Hugh Hardage, Sr. and Ralph Williams opened a mortuary at 517 Park St., in the Riverside area of Jacksonville. They called it Hardage & Williams Funeral Home. The company became Hardage & Sons when Ralph retired in 1944 and 4 of Hugh’s sons (Hugh, Jr., Robert, Gordon and Richard) became partners in the family business. Hugh, Sr. died in 1964, and his sons continued operations, even expanding by acquiring Estes-Krauss Funeral Home in 1971.

Giddens gets its start

Meanwhile, in 1932, elsewhere in Jacksonville, T.J. Giddens and J.D. McEwen opened the first Giddens Funeral Home at 85 Riverside Ave. T.J. operated the firm; J.D. was a silent partner and then sold his interest to T.J. 3 years later. In 1941, T.J. moved the original funeral home to 116 Riverside Ave.

Ronald Giddens joined his father as a partner in the funeral home in 1947. His first funeral home to open was on S. 3rd St. in Jacksonville Beach. It has operated as Beaches Chapel by Hardage-Giddens on Beach Boulevard since 1976.

In 1960, William Griffith became a partner until his retirement in 1972. In 1970, Ronald opened Edgewood Chapel in the city's Murray Hill neighborhood.

Hardage and Giddens join forces

The firms of Hardage & Sons and Giddens-Griffith merged in 1972, though they operated separately under their respective names. Each continued to expand throughout the city of Jacksonville. In the mid-1980s, the names were combined.

Now all of the funeral homes fall under the Hardage-Giddens Funeral Homes umbrella, and all are members of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, burial, cremation and cemetery service providers.

Ronald, along with his daughter, Robin Giddens Sheppard, remains active in the business, upholding a legacy of excellence and integrity in the community, along with a team of nearly 200 employees at 11 funeral homes and 5 cemeteries in Florida's Duval and Clay counties.

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