Our Locations

History

Eastman Funeral Home had its origins when Richard Eastman became a partner at the Sackett Funeral Home in 1949. Sackett-Eastman Funeral Home was located on North Main Street in New London. In September of 1954, Dick and his wife, Ruth, moved their business to its present location at 200 West Main Street and changed the name to Eastman Funeral Home. In the early 1970's, Bill and Laura Fitch, owners of Fitch Funeral Home, retired and sold their business to Eastman Funeral Home. Dick and Ruth ran the ambulance service in the area until 1977, as did many funeral homes. The couple were also dispatchers for the emergency services in the New London area until August of 1978.

In 1978, Dick and Ruth purchased a funeral home in Greenwich. In that same year, Dick and Ruth's son, George, entered into the business and began to manage the Greenwich funeral home. Dick and Ruth retired from the business in 1980 and George, and his wife, Denise, began running both the New London and Greenwich locations.

In 1990, Don, the youngest son of Dick and Ruth, returned home to the family business with his wife, Celeste. Don and Celeste continue to live in Greenwich. In 2006, a third generation of Eastmans started in the business when Jay Eastman (son of George and Denise), and his wife, Sara, began working full time at the funeral home. In 2011, Sam and Rachel Heydinger (daughter of Don and Celeste) joined the family business. Jay, Sam and Sara became the proud owners of the the New London, Greenwich and Wellington locations in 2017 and purchased the Norwalk location in 2018.

Richard Eastman was born in Elyria to Rev. Finley and Blanche Eastman and lived in Amherst until age 12. He moved to Wakeman with his family and graduated from Wakeman High School in 1941. Following High School, he served in the Merchant Marines during World War II. He graduated from the Cleveland College of Mortuary Science in 1947 and worked several years as manager at Stein Funeral Home in Huron, Ohio.

While living in Huron, Dick met his future wife, Ruth, who was a teacher at the Ohio Street School in Huron. Ruth Wonnell was born in Bay Township, Ohio and graduated from Port Clinton High School in 1942. During World War II, Ruth worked at Erie Ordinance Depot. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in Music Education in 1948. She taught music in Huron, Savannah, Adario, and New London schools. Ruth worked with Dick in the family business and became a licensed funeral director in 1978.

The couple married in April 2, 1950. In 1952, they welcomed a daughter, Janet, into the family. Two years later, a son, George, was born and the family became complete in 1958 with their third child, Donald.

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Eastman Funeral Home in Greenwich began in 1978, when Dick and Ruth Eastman purchased Myers Funeral Home from C. Atlee and Anne Myers. Atlee had been involved in funeral homes in the Greenwich area since 1935, and had purchased it in 1960 from Calvin and Ethel Bender of Bender Funeral Home. The Benders purchased the current building on West Main Street and converted it into Hines and Bender Funeral Home in 1937. 

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The building which Norton-Eastman Funeral Home now occupies was originally built in 1865 by Sydney Warner, who served as Treasurer of the State of Ohio. William and Lois Norton purchased the Andrews Funeral Home in 1953 on Courtland Street in Wellington.

With space being limited at the Courtland Street address, the Nortons began looking for property to buy. At this same time the Sydney Warner home went up for sale. The Nortons bought the S.S. Warner home in 1957 and established the funeral home there.

Bill was a 1950 graduate of the Cleveland College of Mortuary Science and was involved throughout the community in several capacities; Lois taught at Wellington High School, served as a local real estate agent, and was a licensed funeral director.



In December of 2005, William Norton suddenly became ill. After his unexpected death, the Eastman family officially purchased the Norton funeral home in April 2006 establishing the Norton-Eastman Funeral Home.

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The main building where Walker-Eastman-Heydinger Funeral Home is located was constructed in 1884 as the residence of Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Doud. Mr. Doud was a prominent man at A.B. Chase Company in Norwalk. A.B. Chase created beautiful handcrafted pianos and organs, one of which still sits in the funeral home. 

In 1994, the residence was converted into Hinman-Tanner & Walker Funeral Home. The name quickly changed to Walker Funeral Home as Edward Walker, and his wife, Roxanne, built their legacy of caring service in the community. Additional construction in the early 2000s added a lovely kitchen to the building. 

In September of 2018, Jay and Sara Eastman and Samuel Heydinger purchased the funeral home from Ed. The Walker and Eastman families have long been friends. Ed even served his apprenticeship at the Greenwich funeral home so the transition was a natural fit. 

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