🔒Private equity-backed funeral home operator expands in CT as industry consolidation builds

A quiet shift is underway in Connecticut’s funeral industry, reshaping the long-standing model of family-run funeral homes. Backed by private equity, Maine-based Milestone Funeral Partners recently acquired four Connecticut funeral homes, with locations in Waterbury, Thomaston, Wolcott and Trumbull. It’s part of a broader national consolidation trend that, over decades, has led to many funeral homes closing while others are absorbed into larger organizations. Milestone paid $5.4 million for the properties tied to the four locations it acquired last year, bringing its total to six in the Nutmeg State.

Since launching in 2021, Milestone has built a network of about 90 funeral homes across New England and upstate New York, funded largely through private equity, said CEO and co-founder Michael R. Martel. Martel said the company prioritizes retaining existing staff — and in some cases former owners who know the communities well — and that there will be no major changes at the Connecticut locations until Milestone has spent more time evaluating each operation. “Our focus has always been New England and New York, and so we were excited to start doing business in Connecticut and becoming a good succession option for sellers in Connecticut,” he said.

Heirs opt out

Traditional family-run funeral homes are facing mounting pressures, including rising costs, shifting consumer preferences and a lack of succession options. Owners often find their children do not want to remain in the family business, industry experts say. “The reason why there are so many opportunities to build a business like ours is because so many owners are retiring,” Martel said, noting that key staff are also aging out of the workforce. “There is this massive retirement in the industry.” Milestone positions itself as a succession solution, acquiring funeral homes while allowing owners to step back gradually or exit entirely. “Once we remove those administrative burdens and the compliance pieces and that sort of thing, then it changes the dynamic of what they do day-to-day, and then we’ve certainly had owners say: ‘Wow, I was going to stay on for two years, but I’d like to stay on for five years because this is really cool.’” Martel said the company expects to continue growing — projecting expansion of 25% or more this year — driven in part by an influx of private equity capital that has become a more prominent funding source in the historically undercapitalized funeral and cemetery industry. Milestone is one of several players in the consolidation space. The four Connecticut properties it acquired last year were sold by Carriage Services Inc., a publicly traded operator of 155 funeral homes in 24 states and 28 cemeteries in nine states.

Steady trend

Industry data shows a long-term decline in the number of funeral homes nationwide. In 2006, there were between 21,000 and 22,000 locations, according to the National Funeral Directors Association. By the end of 2025, that number had fallen to between 15,400 and 15,700. Today, Connecticut has 194 funeral homes, down from 309 in 2005, according to the association.

Even so, consolidation has been gradual and is unlikely to fully displace independent operators, said Daniel J. Ford, a Waterbury-based funeral home operator who also serves as president of the National Funeral Directors Association. About 85% of Connecticut funeral homes remain independently owned, a share that has declined only about 5 percentage points since 2006, Ford said. Much of the consolidation is happening at the local level, as operators merge to reduce overhead and adapt to changing conditions. Ford has experienced that firsthand. Alderson-Ford Funeral Homes operated five locations when he bought out his father in 2014. Today, the company runs locations in Waterbury and Cheshire, along with a third in Naugatuck under the Buckmiller Ford Mengacci brand, following a merger with a longtime competitor in early 2025. “We were operating five different rooftops in three different communities, which didn’t make any sense at all, so we reduced our overhead by merging the funeral homes,” Ford said. “You’ll see that happening on a regular basis throughout the state, as we’ve seen throughout the country.” Other independent funeral home operators say interest from consolidators is intensifying. “We’ve seen in the last three years, really, a lot of private equity money flowing into the funeral industry,” said Garrett Casey Sr., owner of Casey’s Eastside Memorial Funeral Home in Waterbury and the Casey-O’Neil Funeral Home in Watertown. “I’ve had two in the last three months that have literally just cold-called and said, ‘we’d like to talk to you.’” Casey declined to sell, citing differences over valuation, but said the inquiries reflect a growing presence of institutional buyers in a traditionally local business. He pointed to demographic pressures as a key consolidation driver. “The majority of funeral homeowners are like me, they’re in their 60s and 70s. Some, a lot of them, don’t have succession plans,” he said. Still, Casey believes independent operators retain advantages that are difficult to replicate at scale. “If you call Casey’s, you’re going to get a Casey to answer the phone,” he said. “I answer the phones 24-7 at home at night. The corporates can’t do that.”

Changing demands

At the same time, changing consumer preferences are reshaping the industry. Demand for cremation services has surged over the past few decades, driven by both cultural acceptance and cost considerations. Casey said cremation accounted for about 15% of his business when he opened in 1998. Last year, it was 65%. A traditional funeral service with a casket, vault, wake and hearse can cost about $15,000, while a cremation with services can cost around $5,000, he said. Marc L. Frigon, manager of Woodtick Memorial in Wolcott, one of the properties acquired by Milestone, said consolidation has been building for years. “Well, there’s a definite trend, and this has been going on for a long time, that the smaller family-owned funeral homes are being bought up by national chains of funeral homes,” Frigon said. He said not all corporate operators are the same, noting differences in responsiveness and operational flexibility. “It worked out well because (Milestone is) a smaller company and, if I need the answer to a question, I generally get it right away or within 24 hours,” Frigon said. Woodtick Memorial was started by Frigon’s father in 1985. He said he hopes to regain an ownership stake through an equity-sharing program being developed by Milestone. In New Haven, where independent operators still dominate, consolidation has also reduced the number of funeral homes over time. The Iovanne Funeral Home has been in the same family for nearly a century in the city’s Worcester Square neighborhood. President Bill Iovanne Jr. said there were once six funeral homes within a few blocks of his location. Today, there are two.

He, too, has received buyout offers. “We get courted by the larger conglomerates a lot, and their offers are always appealing, but I like being independent,” said Iovanne, who has done some consolidating of his own. His wife’s family business, the Lupinski Funeral Home, was merged into the Iovanne location, while retaining its branding and client base. Iovanne said the corporate model often emphasizes efficiency and volume in ways that can conflict with his approach to service. As an independent, he is not constrained in how much time he spends with families — an approach he said helps build multigenerational relationships. Looking ahead, he expects consolidation to continue as more owners approach retirement without clear successors. “I see it picking up pace primarily because of succession,” he said.