Jennings-Calvey serving the community for more than 120 years

Jennings-Calvey Funeral and Cremation Services in Clarks Summit has been providing top notch, personalized and affordable services to the community for more than 120 years.

Their continued commitment to providing families with the tools they need to say goodbye to their loved ones and find closure has earned them the title of Best Funeral Home in this year’s Best of the Abingtons. It’s a honor that has been bestowed upon them several times in the past and last year, their new e-commerce branch was also voted Best New Business.

“It’s really nice to learn that the community sees us as being the premiere provider,” said Christopher Calvey Jr., a fourth generation funeral director whose father, Christopher C. Calvey, has owned and operated the funeral home since 1980. He is the great nephew of Mary Jennings, the daughter of founder John Jennings, who became one of the first female funeral directors to be licensed in the nation when she joined the firm in 1947.

Jennings-Calvey has been a family affair for generations. Despite that legacy, going into the family business wasn’t something Calvey initially considered doing. After graduating from Villanova University in 2010 with duel degrees in accounting and financing, Calvey worked as an accountant for KPMG LLP in Philadelphia.

“I hated every minute of it,” he recalled.

In 2012, after some soul searching, Calvey decided to begin his funeral service education, which he said, “felt like the absolute right fit.”

As Calvey put it, funeral directing is like being a jack of all trades and his training included everything from biology and psychology to embalming and accounting.

This well-rounded, varied education gave Calvey the tools to help families through the absolute worst times, guiding them through the emotionally draining process of losing a loved one.

“It’s about determining how to properly honor them and carrying out their wishes in the most dignified way possible,” said Calvey.

Of course, the business is ever evolving and Jennings-Calvey Funeral Services is constantly looking for ways to innovate.

“We always want to make sure folks are being taken care of in the best way possible and that we’re meeting their demands,” he said.

That philosophy was the driving force behind creating the e-commerce branch, which allows people to set up cremation services online in a way that is easy for them yet still dignified, without going directly through the funeral director. Jennings-Calvey offer moderately priced cremations and all of the paperwork is taken care of online or through email.

“One of the biggest things that has changed, probably over the last 10 to 20 years is the increase in cremation rates,” said Calvey.

Because of that, Jennings-Calvey built their own crematorium on sight. It was a costly investment, but Calvey said it was necessary in order to give families the services they needed. It also allowed the funeral home to stay involved in every step of the process instead of relinquishing custody of someone’s loved one to an unrelated third party. That kind of personalization is very important to Jennings-Calvey and a point of immense pride.

After working in funeral services for nearly a decade, Calvey said that the job he does makes him live life differently – more purposefully. It has made him aware of his own mortality, and he goes home every night and hugs his wife, Lauren, and their 9-month-old daughter just a little tighter.

“It is a constant reminder living in this business that you never know what day could be your last,” he said. “It does remind you to kind of make every day count.”