The John R. Freed Funeral Home at 124 N Easton Road in Glenside is getting a makeover in preparation for a merger.

The site will soon become the Freed-Givnish Life Celebration Home.

Mr. Freed, the business’ owner, is a third-generation funeral director who’s now in his mid-60s. He has no heirs and no one to take over the business.

Earlier this year, he sat down with John Givnish, a fellow third-generation funeral director and owner of Life Celebration by Givnish, to hash out a plan.

“His family’s name and legacy are important to him, so we joined forces,” Givnish said. “We decided to take the building next door down and add more parking.”

Plans call for a total renovation of the interior and exterior of the building “right down to the rafters,” he said.

Bob Wustner, funeral director-in-resident, and his wife have moved into the recently renovated living quarters on top of the funeral home. He and Mr. Freed with co-manage Freed-Givnish Life Celebration Home.

“The outside will be changing next. It’ll have everything that a modern facility needs. We’re excited about it. In our opinion, it’ll be the number one facility in the area,” Givnish said. “It was a great fit. We already had a multitude of Glenside families before the Freeds reached out to us.”

The new funeral home will host a series of open houses after its grand opening, expected by the end of January.

“Our family has been in business for nearly 110 years, and we’ll be in Glenside for generations to come,” Givnish said. “My son, my brothers are all in the business. My kids all went to local schools. We’re very familiar with the area and we love Glenside. We’re humbled to be able to do business there.”

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