Home

Cole Funeral Chapel is a family-owned funeral home committed to caring for your family.   An independent funeral home in Chelsea, Michigan, our mission is to meet your needs whatever they may be. We provide a wide range of services, from sitting down with you to discuss future needs to grief counseling after the death of a loved one.
 
Our funeral home was founded in 1898, and was purchased by Donald Cole in 1977.  His son, Allen, bought the funeral home from his father in 1999, continuing the tradition of service to the Chelsea area.
 
We know that making funeral arrangements can be difficult, so let us help you every step of the way.  We have a professional staff equipped with many resources that can provide assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Please feel free to call anytime, or e-mail us at staff @ ColeFuneralChapel.com

 

 

 

 

 

We offer choices in cremation service, including:

  • direct cremation with no services
  • cremation followed by a memorial service or visitation time
  • a complete viewing and funeral followed by cremation

We want to help your family choose services that fit your needs. We will walk you through your options without pressuring you, and we will help you to compare the costs of different options.  Regardless of your choice, we will treat your loved one with respect, we will help you write and place obituaries, we will obtain death certificates promptly, and help you chose the final resting place for your loved one's ashes.  We will not try to sell you services or merchandise you do not need.

 

Standard Cremation Package

Cremation with Public Viewing & Funeral

Cremation Packages - Price list

 

Read more: Cremation Services

We understand how difficult it is to plan funeral services, so our staff is available to help you in any way that we can.  Please call us and we will walk you through every step of planning, and we will offer choices to  make the services just right for your family.  To help you understand the process, here are some of the steps you can choose to do ahead of time:


Funeral Planning

    ☐ Fill out basic pre-arrangement information sheet.  15-20 minutes, no charge. This provides the basic information we need to write obituaries and fill out the death certificates.  It gives us some information about the type of services you want. Click here to download the Pre-Arrangement form

    ☐ Fill out funeral service information sheet.  10-15 minutes, no charge. This provides information about the funeral / memorial service you would like: who should lead it, type of music, readings, etc.  Click here to download the Funeral Service Information Sheet

    ☐ Itemize funeral goods and services.  30-60 minutes with funeral home staff, usually at the funeral home, no charge. You choose the goods and services you want, and we will create an itemized funeral bill so you can know the anticipated costs. This is an estimate only, but lets you make many of the decisions in advance, and guides us and your family as to your wishes.

    ☐ Pre-pay your funeral invoice.  15-30 minutes with funeral home staff. After itemizing the services you want (see previous choice), you may pay for the funeral in one lump sum, or in payments, and lock in the prices for your funeral bill.  This saves your family from worrying about paying for your funeral.


Memorial Planning

    ☐ Choose your cemetery marker.  30-60 minutes, cost vary greatly. You may choose the type of stone or gravemarker you want, and lay out the exact design for your stone.  You may wish to save the information until after the death, or have the stone cut and delivered.  

    ☐ Plan a memory slideshow.  30-60 minutes, $95. Choose 30-70 photos to be put into a slideshow that can be played at the visitation and/or funeral.  You may put sticky notes on back to indicate an order to the photos if you wish, or to label slides. You may choose to narrate the photos in your voice.   

    ☐ Write a letter to your loved ones.  No cost, time will vary greatly. You may write a letter to your spouse or children to be read and re-read after your death.  It could be read publicly, or just given to those you choose after your death.  We will be happy to file it with your pre-arrangement.  Please put in sealed envelope with the name of the recipient on the outside.

Recent Obituaries

Frank A. Robards

of Brownsburg, Indiana died Saturday, February 8th, 2020, at the age of 85. He was born April 2, 1934, the son of James and Ella (Kleinschmidt) Robards.
 
Frank attended Chelsea schools and graduated in 1953. He spent 2 years in the Army. He then started working for Hoover NSK in Ann Arbor, transferring to Indiana, where he retired.
 
He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Kenneth (Bill) and a sister Joyce. Survivors include his brothers Roland Robards and James Robards, and sisters Myrna Weir and Marjorie Plumb. He has many nieces and nephews as well as a special friend, David Adams.
Read more ...

Sandra M. Shapiro

Sandra M. Shapiro, eldest daughter of Archimede and Alma “Pat” (Logan) Marni, sister of Andrea L. Marni (deceased), and dear wife of Stanley Shapiro, died February 21 at Towsley Village in the Chelsea Retirement Community. She was 84 years old; cause of death was complications of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. She was a devoted friend of all animals, especially dogs, cats and birds. And she was a lover of the natural world as well, flowers and trees in particular. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Cincinnati, she went on to collect M.A.s at Indiana University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Eastern Michigan. For some half dozen years she was a historic preservationist at the Ohio Historical Society.

Read more ...

Barbara Eleanor (Lanning) Griffith

 
of Dexter, MI, age 84, died Thursday, February 20, 2020 at her home in Dexter. She was born June 30, 1935 in North Industry, OH, the youngest daughter of Lewis and Edith (Rush) Lanning.  Barbara was a graduate of Canton South High School, class of 1953. She enjoyed playing bridge, raising flowers and watching and feeding birds. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.
 
Read more ...

Shirley Anne Engels

of Dexter, Michigan, formerly of Grosse Pointe Farms, age 88, died Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at Hartland Health Care Center in Ann Arbor.  She was born October 2, 1931 in Detroit, Michigan , the daughter of Ludger & Ruth Cecelia (Cushman) St. Arnaud.  Shirley graduated from Denby High School in Detroit in 1949.   She loved to go boating on the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair with her husband. She was a member of St. Stephen & St. Philip Episcopal Church in Detroit, and later Bethesda Church in Detroit. Most of all, she was a loving and devoted mother.
 
Read more ...

Elaine Jeanette Boyce


Elaine Jeanette Boyce of Ann Arbor, age 93, died Monday, February 17, 2020, at her daughter’s home. She was born December 18, 1926, in Chelsea, the daughter of Norman Harold & Lenore Eva Margarita (Kalmbach) Schmidt.
 
She was a graduate of Chelsea High School, class of 1944. She earned her RN from Deaconess Hospital. She was a nurse for both Dr. Joseph Fisher and Dr. Charles Krausse for many  years. Elaine was a longtime member of the Order of Eastern Star. Elaine married Ellis Boyce on March 11, 1961.  At that time she had a son, Charles Fredette. Ellis had two sons, Alan and Floyd Boyce. After Ellis and Elaine joined families they were blessed with two daughters, Kimberly Ann Boyce and Carol Lisa Boyce. Kim and Carol lovingly cared for both parents for many years. For that gift our families are eternally thankful. Thanks also to Ronen Sherman, Kim's husband, for his assistance with Ellis and Elaine. Ellis and Elaine loved spending time at their Betsie River Cottage and mushrooming. They also enjoyed traveling together. They made two trips together to Omaha Beach for D-Day anniversary events. They also attended events at the D-Day Museum in New Orleans (Ellis was a D-Day survivor). Elaine was a diehard Michigan fan (that's an understatement!)