Currently viewing the tag: "Colt Black"

Black’s Is a Familiar Name in Thurmont Funeral Services

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James Rada, Jr.

At a time when people are at their lowest because a loved one has died, Colt Black is there to help.

“I was always interested in a profession where I could help people, and a funeral director can help people when they most need it,” said Black, who owns Black’s Funeral Home in Thurmont.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because funeral services runs in Black’s blood. His great-great uncle, Elmer Black, owned Black’s Undertaking in Thurmont in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After graduating Catoctin High School, Black enrolled in mortuary school at Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. While studying in Pittsburgh, he also worked for a funeral home and a removal service. He transferred to the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service in New York City and graduated in 2009 with his degree in funeral service. He then served an apprenticeship in Western Maryland before getting licensed in 2010.

He wanted to stay in this area with his family, but he couldn’t find work as a funeral director.

“I wound up subcontracting with funeral homes to pick up bodies and embalm them,” Black said.

He also got licensed in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Delaware so that he could increase the area he serviced. He even leased a colleague’s facility in Westminster to offer cremation services.

Even with a place of business, he soon discovered that people didn’t consider it a “real” funeral home because there was no place for viewing or funerals.

“In 2016, an opportunity came up to allow me to start out on my own,” Black said. He rented out the old Woodsboro Bank space in the Thurmont Plaza on N. Church Street.

“It hadn’t been occupied in 10 years, and it was in bad shape,” Black said. “Dad and I did most of the demolition.”

The entire inside needed to be gutted and then remade into a place where families and friends could feel at peace when attending a viewing. Because of the thickness of the walls around the old vault, Black decided that instead of removing it, to take the door off and turn it into a nice waiting room.

“We have as nice a space now as any other funeral home in Northern Frederick County,” Black said. “We have everything we need to hold any service anyone needs.”

Besides typical funerals and viewings, they offer cremation, mortuary shipping, pet services, DNA recovery, pregnancy loss, and Jewish funeral services.

Although proud of his facility, Black said that isn’t what makes a funeral home stand out. “What really counts is the service you render and how the family is treated,” he said.

Black’s Funeral Home can create online memorials, tribute videos, flowers, grief-support emails, and more.

“We are personable, compassionate, and efficient,” Black said. “Families need that when they have had a family member die.”

Funeral service room in Black’s Funeral Home in Thurmont.

Sabillasville Resident Provides Heartfelt Mortuary Services Out of Westminster

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Nicholas DiGregory

Few topics are more shunned by today’s society than the concept of death. In a world where modern science and medicine have prolonged life to considerable lengths, the idea of death has become merely an afterthought, albeit one that inspires a rather vicious response or fear and loathing.

And yet, death is an inevitable part of life. And while it should not be feared, death can bring immense sadness and vulnerability when it strikes a loved one. When a family member or close friend passes away, it can be hard enough to move on; the last thing many people want to think about at such a tragic time is making funeral arrangements.

Few individuals understand this fact better than . The twenty-seven-year-old Sabillasville resident and licensed mortician knows how hard coping with death can be, and with that in mind, he started Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services.

Based out of Westminster in Maryland, Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services provides a uniquely personal and heartfelt approach to the funeral process. As the owner and supervising mortician, Black focuses on providing affordable and unobtrusive care to those grieving the loss of a loved one.

“A casket is a casket, and a funeral is a funeral,” said Black. “It shouldn’t matter who’s providing the service as long as you like what was done and it made you feel good. That’s what it’s about at the end of the day. It’s not about buying the most or least expensive; it’s about what you can afford to make you feel good. And that’s really my goal, to make people feel good because it’s what they deserve.”

While Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services is based out of a brick-and-mortar funeral home in Westminster, Black does not restrict himself or his company to any single location. Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services offers viewings and funerals at places of worship and community venues as well, allowing for funeral arrangements that are less expensive but more personalized.

“We’ve adopted a business model that’s unique to this area,” said Black. “Our business model works off of the principle that we work out of another funeral director’s funeral home, and that contributes to us being able to provide a lower-cost service, since we do not have to deal with the overhead of building a brand-new funeral home.”

Another unique quality Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services offer is in-home consultation. Black stressed that when a person is in mourning, there is no reason for them to have to travel from home to make funeral arrangements.

“We try to meet with people in the home,” said Black. “A lot of funeral directors make you travel all over God’s creation to come in to them, but we don’t think that’s appropriate when someone has lost a loved one. We bring the funeral home to you.”

In their special way, Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services provides all of the traditional funeral services, and then some. In addition to the typical funeral, cremation, and burial options, Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services also provides services for anatomical donation, mortuary shipping, cryonic suspension, and grave relocation. Most services are also available for cases of miscarriage or still birth, even as early as the first trimester.

Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services is located at 254 East Main Street, Westminster, MD 21157. For immediate contact or to make funeral arrangements, call 443-292-5662 or 301-723-7180. General questions can also be addressed via email to blacksmortuary@gmail.com.