Van Henkelum Funeral Home

Specialties

Helping Families and Friends Honor Their Loved One

The staff members of Van Henkelum Funeral Home will guide your family in creating a meaningful ceremony to honor the life and memory of a loved one. A ceremony can be anything you wish it to be: simple or elaborate, traditional or unique. No matter how it’s tailored, such a ceremony is an important step in recovering from loss.

We are located at 13 401 South Ridgeland Ave., Palos Heights IL 60 463

History

Established in 1956.

It was in 1956 that the story of Van Henkelum Funeral Home in Palos Heights begins. It was in this year that Whitey & Shirley opened Van Henkelum Funeral Home calling it for a short time, Palos Funeral Home, in a rented store front at 12 212 S Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights, Illinois. In 1960, they decided to invest in Whitey’s home town and purchased the property at 12 534 S Harlem Ave. Their dream was to build their own funeral home. However, this dream was not without obstacles. The property had to be rezoned from residential to business and after a 7 year process the zoning change was approved by the city and construction began in early 1967. The new funeral home, named Van Henkelum Funeral Home opened in October 1967 with only one chapel and a gravel parking lot. The funeral home also acted as their home, living in the attached house until moving into a condominium in the Oak Hills Section of Palos Heights in 1999. But the Van Henkelum Funeral Home was in Palos Heights and would becom

Meet the Business Owner

Peter V.

Business Owner

Peter was born and raised in Palos Heights having attended St. Michaels and St. Alexander Grammar schools, Carl Sandburg High School, Moraine Valley Community College and is a graduate of Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago. In his spare time, Peter enjoys Bowling, Golf and riding his bicycle on the many trails throughout the forest preserves. Peter is a certified crematory operator, member of the Cremation Association of North America, National Funeral Directors Association, Illinois Funeral Directors Association recently joined a national group of cremation specialists Cremation-​with-​Care to access better ways to help families that choose cremation and other simplified services