Our Heritage

Our Heritage

Hunt Irving Funeral Home has a long history as a family known for helping families in the City of Chester and its surrounding areas.  The Founders: Lewis M. Hunt Sr. and his wife Naomi Barnes Hunt established, the Lewis M. Hunt Funeral Home at 1424 W. 3rd St, in the City of Chester in 1927.  Lewis M. Hunt, Sr. was the first state-appointed African-American Deputy Coroner and his wife was the first African-American female Deputy Coroner in Delaware County.  They faithfully served all of their families with fairly-priced funerals, professional service and commitment to the needs of families during their time  of loss.  Family who had no financial means to pay were often provided with services free of charge. Mrs. Hunt always said “No family will go unserved.” 
 
In 1938, Lewis and Naomi purchased Haven Memorial Park Cemetery in Chester Township. During a time of widespread racial discrimination, the Hunts wanted to open a cemetery that would be for all people of color regardless of religious preference.  The first burial in Haven Memorial Park Cemetery was an infant from a Hindu Indian family who the Hunts funeralized, because no other funeral home would.  From that point, they decided to dedicate certain sections to honor African-American soldiers who fought during World Wars I and II and the Korean Conflict. At that time many National and local cemeteries did not permit burials for deceased African-American veterans.  Lewis and Naomi were also instrumental in helping local young African-Americans to enter the field of mortuary science and unselfishly allowed them to serve apprenticeships.

The same traditions continue with the third generation of the Hunt family. Great- grandson Raphael M. Hunt Irving, L.F.D., owns and operates the Hunt Irving Funeral Home at 925 Pusey St. Chester. PA; Haven Memorial Park Cemetery and Crematory is owned by his parents Lewis M. Hunt Irving Sr. and B. Vivian Hunt Irving. Being a family-owned and operated funeral home means that families will be provided with professional, compassionate services at a reasonable cost.  We pride ourselves on personalized services, whether it’s coming to the family’s home to make arrangements to make them more comfortable or customizing a funeral service to meet the financial means of the family.  We can offer families pre-need, bereavement and aftercare counseling.

The cemetery also offers a full range of bronze markers, custom vaults and grave liners.  In 1996, Haven Memorial added a state-of-the-art crematory, which provides convenient, timely cremations for the funeral home. We offer the most affordable cremations in the area. We have built a new community mausoleum which provides for full entombment or urn niches. Haven Memorial Park Cemetery also offers burial lots for sale.  Families are invited to stop at the cemetery office, open daily (Monday through Friday) from 9 AM - 4 PM.

Call 610-364-0300 for further information on the cemetery and mausoleum.