For second-generation funeral director Dan Symonds, keeping operations independent is a matter of professional principle and personal heritage. Having spent decades in the industry, Symonds recently expanded his footprint by acquiring a small community funeral home that handles roughly eighty cases a year. The previous owner, who served the community for decades, was adamant about protecting his legacy.
“He basically told me, ‘I don’t want to sell it to a corporation who will close it down. I want to sell it to someone who wants to run the funeral home and keep it a community-based funeral home,’” Symonds said. “That’s very important. He’s been in the community for 50 years, and, understandably, he doesn’t want his legacy to not continue.”
This is a refrain we’re hearing more about lately, as the fashion has shifted from concolidation and expansion to consolidation and compression. As the spoke and wheel approach to consolidation continues to be the order of the day for many consolidators, fear of having your business shuttered and youre familes foiested on the nearest regional care center, increasingly is a factor.
Sometimes, lack of planning necessitates it, but no one really wants to hear the business they’ve built over the course of half-a-century is worth more dead than alive.
A Lifetime Shaped by the Industry
Growing up in a family deeply embedded in deathcare, Symonds’ earliest memories are intertwined with funeral homes. His father purchased his first establishment in 1970, and Symonds literally grew up playing in the chapels and living above the business. Today, he continues that tradition by living upstairs at his Elgin location with his own family.
“I grew up in a family. business. My father bought his first funeral home before I was born,” Symonds said.
Similarly, his children have grown up treating the grounds as home, riding bicycles in the parking lot during winter months and celebrating milestones at the funeral home, surrounded by family. Symonds notes that this close integration with the neighborhood is precisely what corporate models lack. While large chains focus on financial metrics and quarterly targets, independent homes prioritize the long-term human connection. It’s the difference between a generational commitment and a career-long commitment.
“People who walk through your door are family. Treat them with love, kindness, and respect,” Symonds said, recalling a core lesson taught by his father. “It’s important to realize that people aren’t numbers. They’re not money coming in the door. They’re families who are dealing with grief and pain and loss, and they need to be comforted, they need to be helped within that time.”
Ministry Over Margins
Operating independently allows funeral directors the flexibility to put grieving families ahead of corporate bottom lines. Symonds stresses that financial constraints should never prevent someone from receiving a proper and compassionate farewell. While corporate establishments often demand immediate payment or credit card transactions upon making arrangements, independent operators frequently offer grace periods to families facing financial hardship.
“If you don’t have all the money right now to be able to take care of the funeral, you don’t need to pay right now. A lot of corporations, you walk in, you make arrangements, you pay the bill,” Symonds said. “I’d rather have them come in, sit down with me, and worry about what they’re going to do. If they need a week, if they need two weeks, that’s fine. I usually tell people, you have 30 days to pay the balance.”
This philosophy extends deeply into honoring veterans who pass away without financial resources or surviving family members. Symonds recalled a poignant instance involving a homeless former Air Force veteran who lived in a local nursing home for seventeen years. Working alongside the local coroner, Symonds and his wife decided to open a small visitation to see if community members would pay their respects. What started as a modest plan to honor a forgotten serviceman quickly grew into a massive community gathering.
“We get it in the story into the paper ,and we do a little quick little interview with someone and it just blew up. I had over 600 people here. I had all the TV stations here. That was a Christmas miracle to me,” Symonds said.
That response jumpstarted an annual initiative: Operation LOVE (Love Our Veterans Elgin). Symonds Family Chapels provides full military honors and proper memorial services for unclaimed veterans.
Having served more than twenty years in the U.S. Army Reserve, including five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring as a first sergeant, Symonds brings his own deep military background to this mission. Operating on the military principle of leaving no one behind, these services offer a compassionate final tribute funded by the belief that every veteran deserves respect regardless of personal wealth or family standing.
Investing in the Future
Maintaining an independent funeral home also means continuously reinvesting in physical spaces to ensure families feel welcomed and respected. Symonds points out that many of his regional competitors neglect facility upkeep, signaling a broader detachment from the people they serve. By contrast, he views his buildings not as personal (or leased) property, but as a stewardship entrusted to him for the next generation.
“If you don’t take the time to make sure your building is invested in and taken care of and updated and and loved, how are you gonna take care of your families too?” Symonds said. “I don’t look at what I own here as mine. I’m just the current steward who is getting it ready for the next generation.”
As he looks to the future, Symonds hopes to instill the same values of teamwork, dedication, and compassion in his children, ensuring that the human element of deathcare endures in Elgin.
