San Francisco Chronicle
By , Business ReporterUpdated
Death and taxes may be inevitable, but the business of death is changing.
Funeral homes that have been around for decades have been closing around San Francisco as sons and daughters of owners pursue other careers. Morticians are cashing out in the hot real estate market by selling their building sites for bigger housing developments.
Duggan’s Funeral Service is an exception. The family-owned, Mission District company celebrates its 100th anniversary on Saturday. It’s one of the oldest small businesses in the city.
Steven Welch, the fourth-generation manager of Duggan’s, said he’s constantly on the job, with clients who could call any time, any day.
“Somebody calls at 2 o’clock in the morning — you get up and go,” Welch said.
Duggan’s roots were historically in the Irish-Catholic community, which made up the bulk of its business. But since the 1960s, it’s grown to serve virtually all ethnicities and religions.