By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Falardeau Funeral Home began with one man named Albert, and now its legacy continues in the hands of another Albert.

The funeral home on Downer Street was founded in 1940 by J. Albert Falardeau and Joseph T. Glanville as the Falardeau and Glanville Funeral Home. Falardeau went solo in 1951, and his son Don and grandson Joseph followed him into the family business. After three generations of ownership, the Falardeau family sold the business in September to Albert Clos, who has worked with the Falardeaus since 2013.

“I approached Don this spring and I said to him, ‘What do you think about selling to Albert Clos?’ My father-in-law had helped me for many years and it was time to give him the retirement he deserves,” said Suzanne Falardeau, whose late husband, Joseph D. Falardeau, owned the funeral home until his death in 2013.

Suzanne Falardeau said her in-laws, Don and Helen Falardeau, came out of partial retirement after Joe’s death. Joe’s twin sister, Mary Falardeau Reed, graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 2016 and completed her residency as a licensed funeral director the following year. Don managed the funeral home.

“He kept us going for seven years. My mother-in-law continued to work in the office. As a single parent it was a huge help,” Suzanne Falardeau said. “I’m so grateful that he kept Joe’s business going. Joe was the last generation of Falardeaus to own the funeral home.”

Suzanne Falardeau said Clos is like family. She said he will continue to provide the compassion and care that the Baldwinsville community has come to expect from Falardeau Funeral Home.

“He’s so easy to speak with and that’s what the families need. … He gives it his all. We just saw that in him, in his personality,” she said. “We want everybody to give Albert that same chance to show that he can take care of them just like the Falardeaus have.”

Clos, who grew up in Lyncourt, has built his career in the funeral industry. He graduated from Simmons Institute of Funeral Service in 2008 and completed his residency at Farone & Son Funeral Home in Syracuse. He came to know the Falardeaus through working for his father’s business, Clos Hearse Service.

“It was an honor to be considered by Don as someone he trusted to take over a business that he in large part helped build,” Clos said. “I feel privileged to be able to carry that on and it’s our goal to keep their legacy as it is.”

Clos said Falardeau Funeral Home will keep its name and “provide the same level of compassion and service that they always have.”

Suzanne Falardeau said Clos told her he kept a thank-you note Joe Falardeau once wrote him after Clos Hearse Service assisted with a funeral.

“He said,  ‘He’s the only one that ever thanked me for what I do,’” Suzanne Falardeau recalled. “I know my husband would be very happy to see him continue. … He didn’t have an easy job and he appreciated that my husband acknowledged it.”

Clos said the rewards of the funeral business come from helping people through difficult times.

“There’s not really a darker time in your life than when you lose somebody and you don’t know what to do or where to go. [We] get to walk somebody through that,” he said.

The coronavirus pandemic has presented new challenges with restrictions on funeral attendance and social distancing, Clos said, but the staff of Falardeau Funeral Home strives to provide comfort to grieving families no matter what.

“We try to involve ourselves with them a little bit so they feel like we’re an extension of the family and help them through things when their family may not be able to be here,” he said.

Clos, his wife Samara, and their three children moved into the main residence of the funeral home at 93 Downer St. in September. He said he is looking forward to being part of the Baldwinsville community.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know people. Lyncourt is similarly a small [community] — a lot smaller than Baldwinsville,” he said. “We like the country feel of things while still being kind of urban — the best of both worlds here.”

As for the Falardeaus, Don and Helen will retire once again and Mary Falardeau Reed will continue working at the funeral home. Suzanne Falardeau is working part-time as a bus driver for Champion Martial Arts in Fairmount; her daughter, Emily, is a junior at Nazareth College and her son, Jeffrey, is a junior at Baker High School.

“I just want to thank the community for all the support they’ve given the Falardeaus over the last 80 years and hoping that they find comfort in Albert as the owner,” she said.

Falardeau Funeral Home is located at 93 Downer St. in Baldwinsville. To learn more, visit falardeaufh.com or call 315-635-3031.