Home

Cole Funeral Chapel is a family-owned funeral home committed to caring for your family.   An independent funeral home in Chelsea, Michigan, our mission is to meet your needs whatever they may be. We provide a wide range of services, from sitting down with you to discuss future needs to grief counseling after the death of a loved one.
 
Our funeral home was founded in 1898, and was purchased by Donald Cole in 1977.  His son, Allen, bought the funeral home from his father in 1999, continuing the tradition of service to the Chelsea area.
 
We know that making funeral arrangements can be difficult, so let us help you every step of the way.  We have a professional staff equipped with many resources that can provide assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Please feel free to call anytime, or e-mail us at staff @ ColeFuneralChapel.com

 

 

 

 

 

We offer choices in cremation service, including:

  • direct cremation with no services
  • cremation followed by a memorial service or visitation time
  • a complete viewing and funeral followed by cremation

We want to help your family choose services that fit your needs. We will walk you through your options without pressuring you, and we will help you to compare the costs of different options.  Regardless of your choice, we will treat your loved one with respect, we will help you write and place obituaries, we will obtain death certificates promptly, and help you chose the final resting place for your loved one's ashes.  We will not try to sell you services or merchandise you do not need.

 

Standard Cremation Package

Cremation with Public Viewing & Funeral

Cremation Packages - Price list

 

Read more: Cremation Services

We understand how difficult it is to plan funeral services, so our staff is available to help you in any way that we can.  Please call us and we will walk you through every step of planning, and we will offer choices to  make the services just right for your family.  To help you understand the process, here are some of the steps you can choose to do ahead of time:


Funeral Planning

    ☐ Fill out basic pre-arrangement information sheet.  15-20 minutes, no charge. This provides the basic information we need to write obituaries and fill out the death certificates.  It gives us some information about the type of services you want. Click here to download the Pre-Arrangement form

    ☐ Fill out funeral service information sheet.  10-15 minutes, no charge. This provides information about the funeral / memorial service you would like: who should lead it, type of music, readings, etc.  Click here to download the Funeral Service Information Sheet

    ☐ Itemize funeral goods and services.  30-60 minutes with funeral home staff, usually at the funeral home, no charge. You choose the goods and services you want, and we will create an itemized funeral bill so you can know the anticipated costs. This is an estimate only, but lets you make many of the decisions in advance, and guides us and your family as to your wishes.

    ☐ Pre-pay your funeral invoice.  15-30 minutes with funeral home staff. After itemizing the services you want (see previous choice), you may pay for the funeral in one lump sum, or in payments, and lock in the prices for your funeral bill.  This saves your family from worrying about paying for your funeral.


Memorial Planning

    ☐ Choose your cemetery marker.  30-60 minutes, cost vary greatly. You may choose the type of stone or gravemarker you want, and lay out the exact design for your stone.  You may wish to save the information until after the death, or have the stone cut and delivered.  

    ☐ Plan a memory slideshow.  30-60 minutes, $95. Choose 30-70 photos to be put into a slideshow that can be played at the visitation and/or funeral.  You may put sticky notes on back to indicate an order to the photos if you wish, or to label slides. You may choose to narrate the photos in your voice.   

    ☐ Write a letter to your loved ones.  No cost, time will vary greatly. You may write a letter to your spouse or children to be read and re-read after your death.  It could be read publicly, or just given to those you choose after your death.  We will be happy to file it with your pre-arrangement.  Please put in sealed envelope with the name of the recipient on the outside.

A cemetery marker is not just a way to mark the grave, but it can tell the story of that person's life.  We enjoy helping you design a special cemetery marker to remember your loved ones.   We also recommend families place a stone on their graves before it is needed, so you can plan your design together.  We work hard to create quality monuments for the families we serve, and offer many choices, and easy ways to personalize the marker.  Let us make a design and give you an estimate with no obligation.

Patten Monument web site

Recent Obituaries

David E. Burns

Of Grand Rapids, MI, formerly of Pinckney & Adrian.

Age 81, died Saturday, April 4, 2020 at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. He was born September 11, 1938 in Byron, Michigan, the son of Raymond & Marguerite (McCluskey) Burns.

David was a barber in Pinckney for many years, and was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Pinckney. He served in the US Army as a paratrooper from March 1957 to December 1958.

Read more ...

Patricia Ann Robards

Of Chelsea, Michigan, age 83, died Thursday, April 2, 2020 at Chelsea Retirement Community. She was born March 17, 1937 in Waterloo Township, the daughter of Joseph S. & Geraldine B. (Curry) Siegrist.
 
Pat graduated from Grass Lake High School in 1955 and remained in contact with many of her childhood friends through the years. Pat was a beloved mother and grandmother. As a mother, she was always there to help her children in any way possible. As a grandmother, she never missed a grandchild’s special day. She was special to each one of her grandchildren and was affectionately known among the grandkids as “Grandma Grape”, as she always had frozen grapes for a snack in the freezer. Read more ...

Dorine Francis Congdon

of Mattawan, Michigan, age 85, passed away suddenly of natural causes Tuesday, March 31, 2020 in Sun City West, Arizona. She was born January 14, 1935 in Wyandotte, Michigan, the daughter of Anthony & Jessie (McMillan) Mendis.
  Dorine graduated from River Rouge High School in 1953. She earned a Bachelor's degree in teaching from Eastern Normal. Dorine was a bookkeeper for Congdon’s Ace Hardware in Ypsilanti until 1980, and worked in real estate in Traverse City from 1981-2000. She enjoyed winter in her home in Surprise, AZ. Dorine loved the Southwest, and collecting Native American art. She loved reading, traveling, and spending time with her family. Read more ...

Gail Margaret Starr

We are saddened to announce the death of Gail Margaret Starr of Pinckney, MI, formally of Chelsea, MI of the Hoffman Family. Gail was 72 years young and died too soon on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Chelsea following a long battle of illness. She was born August 26, 1947 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she was one of eleven daughters and one brother of Maurice & Lucille Emma (Barnhardt) Hoffman.  In 1952, an article in the Citizens Patriot titled “GIRLS GALORE” was posted about a family in Chelsea MI with eleven girls and a single son.  The article stated there was "a man in Chelsea, MI with enough daughters for a baseball team”.  Gail’s father, Maurice Hoffman, promptly phoned the newspaper and said “That’s nothing, we’ve got enough girls for a football team, with a son left over to coach”.  Gail and all of her siblings attended St. Mary’s grammar school and Chelsea High school.  Gail married in the late 60’s and was a homemaker and loving mother and wife on a horse farm in Gregory, MI. She and her sister Debbie started Clean Sweep, a house cleaning business in the 80’s which she continued to work for almost 40 years until her death.

Read more ...

Lois Marie Lehtinen

of Chelsea, MI, formerly of Midland, TX, age 77, died Friday, March 27, 2020.  Her family sang “Blessed Assurance” and prayed her into the presence of Jesus. She was born January 4, 1943 in Antigo, Wisconsin, the daughter of Frank & Lenore (Emerich) Charles.  Lois graduated from Antigo High School in 1961 and she attended teacher's college after that.  Her greatest joy working was as the administrative assistant for St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, TX.  She also really enjoyed working with special needs students.   After she retired, Lois moved to Midland, TX to be near her daughter Laura, where she attended the First Christian Church, sang in the choir, volunteered with the SHARE program helping families and children with special needs, folding bulletins & visiting members.