Anderson-McQueen

Last updated
Anderson-McQueen
Company typePrivate
Industry Funeral home
Founded1952 (1952) in St. Petersburg, Florida
Founder
  • John S. Anderson
  • William F. McQueen
Headquarters
St. Petersburg, Florida
,
United States
Services
OwnerFoundation Partners Group
Website www.andersonmcqueen.com

Anderson-McQueen Company is a privately owned funeral home headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is owned and operated by the second-generation McQueen family and serves Florida's Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties region with six service facilities. Anderson-McQueen is the first funeral home in the United States to practice flameless cremation. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

John S. Anderson and William F. McQueen founded Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home in 1952. [4] The original Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home was established in a residential St. Petersburg home and now houses Anderson-McQueen's Northeast St. Petersburg Tribute Center, one of Anderson-McQueen's six operating facilities. [5]

After the death of co-founder, John Anderson in 1970, William McQueen assumed sole ownership of the business. In 1984, McQueen invested in a portion of St. Petersburg's Sunnyside Cemetery, established in 1895, that stretches three blocks.(USGenWeb) McQueen's three children succeeded ownership of the business after his death in 1987. [5]

In 1990, The McQueen's acquired the Bobbitt-Gunter Funeral Chapel, now known as Anderson-McQueen's Tyrone Family Tribute Center located in the Tyrone/Gulf Beach area. Later, they purchased the Alan R. McLeod Funeral Chapel located in the St. Petersburg suburb of Meadowlawn in 1994 from Alan and Carole McLeod.

In 1997, Anderson-McQueen opened St. Petersburg's first on-site crematory. [6] The facility included both a reception and visitation space located within the crematorium. The reception facility has since been converted to the Bio-Cremation room.


John T. McQueen became president and CEO of Anderson-McQueen in 2010 after buying out his brother and sister from the family's funeral & cemetery operations. Previously, he was the company's vice president and COO, as well as the owner of the Sunnyside Cemetery and founder of Affordable Memorials. [7]

In 2017, John and his wife, Nikki McQueen, sold Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes to Foundation Partners Group. The duo made the decision to sell Anderson-McQueen and its subsidiaries because their son, Joshua McQueen was unsure about taking over the family business. John and Nikki's sale and retirement marked the end of Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes being the largest family owned in the state of Florida. [8]

Operations

Anderson-McQueen is known for their unique services that in the past have included the releasing of butterflies, and using in-house audiovisual technologies to create graphically enhanced memorial and tribute presentations. The Anderson-McQueen on-site crematorium also permits families and designated guests to witness the initial phase of cremation preparation upon request. [6] [9]

The vehicle fleet includes "Glory Ride" a Harley Davidson modified hearse pulled by a Harley model motorcycle, as well as a restored 1895 horse-drawn hearse. Webcasts are also made available to accommodate guests unable to attend services. [10]

In addition to its use of audio-visual technology for creating personalized memorial tributes, Anderson-McQueen launched its online radio show "Undertaking" in 2014 where host John McQueen interviews other industry experts on various end of life issues. Also in 2014, Anderson-McQueen introduced its mobile app on the iOS app store to provide individuals on the go with easy access to funeral related questions, obituaries and online memorial donations. [11]

Pet death care

In 2006, John and his wife Nikki McQueen founded Pet Passages, an addition of Anderson-McQueen that provides funeral and cremation services to the pet community of Pinellas County. In 2013, Pet Passages surpassed its human counterpart in death care services. [12] [13]

Special services

After the state of Florida added the term "consumable" to rephrase existing statute regulating burial and cremation policies and procedures in 2009, Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home became the industry's first to carry out a flameless cremation. [2] [14]

Flameless cremation is an alternative to the traditional cremation process that substitutes water in place of flames. Flameless cremation, also known as bio-cremation, [15] works through a process called Alkali Hydrolysis which uses a compounded liquid solution that is 95 percent water and five percent potassium hydroxide (KOH). [16] The body is submerged into the "Resomator," a special chamber developed by Glasgow-based manufacturer Resumation. [14] [17] The practice was permitted after mortuary scientists and cremation specialists demonstrated to state and city officials that the residue left behind following the bio cremation process could be diluted to a soluble liquid with a measurable pH level not exceeding 11.5. [16] [18]

Bio-cremation is carried out through a process known as Alkaline hydrolysis. Alkali hydrolysis takes place using a compounded liquid solution that is 95 percent water and 5 percent potassium hydroxide (KOH). [16] The body is submerged into the Resomator, a special chamber developed by Glaskow-based manufacturer Resumation. [17]

Further reading

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Ben Gruber (October 11, 2011). "Florida funeral home offers eco-friendly cremations". Reuters. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Kent Hansen Choosing to be Flushed Away" (PDF). Estate Law Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ Philip Moeller (March 9, 2012). "How to be Environmentally Green Even in Death". USA Today. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ Carl Cronan (November 12, 2010). "Celebration Service". Business Observer. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Robert Yaniz Jr. (January 5, 2009). "Funeral home maintains 'ambidextrous' business". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Matthews Cremation and Anderson-McQueen Funeral Homes Make Flameless Cremation a Reality" (PDF). Funeral Home & Cemetery News. January 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Anderson-McQueen new CEO is John T. McQueen". Tampa Bay Business Journal. December 30, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Foundation Partners buys Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home". Tampa Bay Times. August 23, 2017. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  9. ↑ Dan Morse (February 28, 2002). "More Mourners Push the Button To Cremate Their Loved Ones". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ Steve Heisler (November 10, 2009). "Mobile museum about funerals to stop by Ribfest". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  11. ↑ Pam Huff (May 12, 2014). "Anderson-McQueen works with UK firm to create funeral home app". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  12. ↑ Jessica Fargen. "Pets taking bigger bite of death biz". Boston Herald.
  13. ↑ Peter Jamison (May 7, 2013). "It's A Dog's Afterlife; People Who Cherish Their Pets Will Understand a Booming New Trend". Tampa Bay Times.
  14. 1 2 Neil Bowdler (August 30, 2011). "New body 'liquefaction' unit unveiled in Florida funeral home". BBC News. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ Kantele Franko (June 2, 2011). "Colorado To Allow Alkaline Hydrolysis, An Alternative To Corpse Cremation Or Burial". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Natalie Wolchover (August 31, 2011). "How Does the New Corpse-Dissolving Machine Work?". Live Science. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  17. 1 2 Lucy Siegle (April 3, 2010). "The innovator: Sandy Sullivan". The Guardian. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  18. ↑ Danny Valentine (September 1, 2011). "St. Petersburg funeral home first in country with alkaline hydrolysis cremation option". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
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