By Bob Bumcrot

Brian Kenny and daughter Meghan run the Kenny Funeral Home in Norfolk. Photo by Bob Bumcrot.

To borrow from Mark Twain, rumors of the demise of the Kenny Funeral Home on Maple Avenue are exaggerated. The Home is very much alive and under the management of Meghan Kenny, a fourth-generation Kenny funeral director.

Kenny Funeral Homes and Monumental Services is the oldest family-owned funeral home in the Northwest Corner and the second oldest in Connecticut. It was founded in Sharon in 1914 by William R. Kenny. He would come to the home of the deceased, do the embalming there, build the wooden casket and transport it by horse-drawn hearse to the burial site.

Later, William R.’s son, William T. Kenny, assumed the directorship of the Sharon Home, which he operated until his retirement. In 1984 his son, Brian F. Kenny, took over the business and also bought the Norfolk Home from Frank Torrant, who had established it in the 1940s.

Brian previously served four years as an Army medic with the 25th Infantry Division in the Pacific, including winter training in Korea, followed by five years in the Army Reserve. He studied Mortuary Science at Miami Dade College and worked for several large funeral establishments before joining the family business.

Two funerals stand out in both Meghan’s and George’s memories. One was for George Ford, the well-remembered East Canaan farmer. After a service on the banks of the Blackberry River, the casket was placed on a hay wagon and towed to the cemetery across Route 44, followed by a parade of tractors and wagons. The other was the intimate family service (in freezing wet weather) for William F. Buckley, followed by a huge public memorial at Saint Patrick’s cathedral. Part of son Christopher Buckley’s touching book “Losing Mum and Pup” tells of these services.

“Even when I was little I enjoyed working with Dad,” said Meghan. “My brother and sister would help out sometimes, but only I wanted to enter the profession.” A Mortuary Science graduate of Mount Ida College in Boston, Meghan is officially under the supervision of her father and will soon take the National Board exams. She is engaged to Nicholas Plouffe, the founder of Maple Painting, and plans a Newport, RI wedding next year. The couple will reside in the apartment over the Norfolk Home.

While the Sharon Home does about four times as much business as Norfolk, both locations offer a full range of funeral, memorial and cremation services. Among modern innovations pioneered by Meghan are television displays of family photos, if requested, and Internet transmission of obituaries, which she prepares from family information.

“Generally about seventy percent of funerals these days are cremations,” said Brian. “But Norfolk is still pretty traditional.” “People sometimes choose cremation to save money,” added Meghan. “We’re very sensitive to costs, and hope to work with each family.” For further information, call 860-542-5621 or visit the Web site www.kennyfuneralhomes.com.