John R. Freed, Jr., a lifelong Glenside resident and supervisor at Life Celebration by Freed-Givnish, has been a licensed funeral director for 35 years.

A third-generation member of Freed Funeral Home, his grandfather started the business in 1937 in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia. The current location at 124 N Easton Road in Glenside launched in 1939.

Freed became the owner/operator in 1997 and merged with Life Celebration by Givnish in January 2023. He says the change has exceeded expectations.

“I used to go to conferences and seminars when I was an owner. I always heard about the Givnishes. When I sat down with John in 2022, it completed changed my perception of who they are,” he said. “They kept me involved in the design process, they valued my opinion. They’ve done a great job on the renovations. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“I was also very happy to see that John and the Givnish organization shares our same concepts and mindset: The client comes first, there’s very little that’s out of reach,” he said. “We give them the Life Celebration experience that they desire. It made the transition very easy.”

The cohesive team at Life Celebration by Givnish, many of whom are Glenside natives, has lightened Freed’s day-to-day.

“In the earlier days, I did everything myself. Now I have a great support team underneath me that does a lot of the everyday tasks that I used to do, which is nice,” he said. “At any given time, I can be doing paperwork, cleaning, seeing families, you name it. It’s more of a ‘Wake up and see what the day brings you’ than a defined job description. I work here and at other funeral homes.”

Among the adjustments to former operations, Life Celebration by Freed-Givnish has partnered with O’Neills Market to provide breakfast and lunch options for families. Cookies and coffee are available in the home’s cafe during funerals and viewings.

“We order the food for them, and when the service is over, they can sit back and have lunch if they don’t want to bother with a restaurant. It has worked very well. Morning bagels are available as well if people want to take advantage of that,” he said. “The cookies have been a huge hit. We go through a lot of them. The cafe brings a homey feel. Families seem to be more relaxed.”

Freed said he tries to use light humor to further relax the environment.

“I try to gauge the family’s grief and lighten the mood. People often thank me for that. That’s what I like the most: Having people come out of there saying, ‘Thank you, you made this a lot easier.’ I try to take on all the headaches and speedbumps for those families. It feels good doing that, and I get satisfaction from it,” he said.

“I hoped that this would honor my parents and grandparents, I think they would be very happy. Consequently, I’m very happy,” he said.

For more on the Freed-Givnish Life Celebration Home, you can visit their website. You can also read our previous stories about Paul Nolan, director of operations and support, Shauna Donnelly, office manager, Bob Wustner, Funeral Director in Residence, Maddie Sydlowski, funeral director, and Christina Manero, funeral director.

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