Wilfred Armitage founded the Armitage Funeral Home in 1914 in a store front next to the Kearny Town Hall. Within a few years, he bought the home on the corner of Liberty Street and Kearny Avenue (across from Grace Church). He ran his funeral home on the first floor and raised his young family upstairs. In 1929, he sold that building to Dr. Rudomanski, the new young pediatrician. Wilfred relocated once again to our current location on Belgrove Drive.
An interesting footnote at this time was Wilfred's active involvement with the administration that ran The Old Soldiers Home, where the current Vets Field now exists. We still have many civil war veteran's burial records on hand. Most of these burials were at The Soldier Circle in Arlington Cemetery.
After Wilfred died in 1950, his son Wilfred "Pep" took over. Pep was very proactive in modernizing the building. His twin sons John and Robert soon joined Pep in the daily operation. They continued to expand the facility as the number of families served consistantly grew from year to year.
In 1982 Mark Wiggins, an Armitage family friend, joined the Armitage staff as a volunteer. He had a religion class at Seton Hall which required him to volunteer in a service oriented business. During his college years he came to appreciate the valuable service that a funeral director provides to the community and soon enrolled in Mortuary College.
By 1996 Mark was very involved in all daily activities and purchased the business upon John's retirement. He has contiuned to improve the property and provide dignified and compasionate service to many families in need. He has a committed staff that includes Kathleen Gillespie and Debbie Coleman running the business office. Tony Esteves, Jerry Coppola and John Dec are just a few of our regular door and funeral assistants. You will always find a helpful person when you call on us.
Catholic Cemeteries of the Archdiocese of Newark organized and hosted the annual Mass for funeral directors, cemeterians and bereavement counselors at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Newark, on Nov. 2. Following the Mass a reception dinner was held at Nanina's in the Park, Belleville. Archbishop John J. Myers and Andrew P. Schafer, executive director of Catholic Cemeteries, presented awards to 12 funeral directors to honor their years of faithful service to their communities. Singled out in Kearny was Mark G. Wiggins, Manager and Owner of Armitage and Wiggins Funeral Home.