Chiles-Laman funeral homes uses people as its building blocks to success

LIMA — Bob Laman remembers the grass field before the crown jewel of Chiles-Laman Funeral and Cremation Services was built at the corner of Shawnee Road and state Route 117.

He remembers helping to lay sod as the finishing touches were put on the Shawnee Chapel funeral home in 1967.

“We were all just kids,” he said.

Nearly 45 years later, the kid is the president of the company that has three locations.

Laman got his start in the business in 1970 as a sophomore in high school. He began washing cars as a teenager to earn spending money.

The business has been part of his family for more than 80 years.

Chiles-Laman got its start when Laman's grandfather, Thomas R. Chiles, joined Bowersock Funeral Home on North West Street in 1928. The business soon became Bowersock and Chiles Funeral Home. The funeral home moved in 1932 to 541 W. Wayne St., a location it kept until just over a year ago.

Today, Chiles-Laman has three locations. Besides the Shawnee Chapel there is the Lewis Memorial Chapel at 828 Bellefontaine Ave., the company acquired in 1959. There's also the Bluffton Chapel the company purchased in 1986, Laman said.

Chiles-Laman has 41 employees from funeral directors to secretaries to maintenance staff. He has 11 full-time funeral directors and 30 part-time directors, he said.

While the casual observer might think funeral homes are not affected by a recession, Laman said that is not the case.

While one constant remains that people die, some families have taken steps in recent years to try to make it as inexpensive as possible. Cremation, which is gaining every year in popularity, has become a way to save money, he said.

On top of that, cremation has other reasons it's become popular, he said.

“Today, it's more with people being more mobile and living all over the country. Cremated remains, you can take them with you,” he said.

People began breaking with traditional burial 10 years ago and looking at cremation as an alternative, Laman said.

“It's a different outlook in today's society,” he said.

Today, Chiles-Laman is putting the final touches on its own crematorium, he said.

Laman said cremation is just one way his company has changed and all the changes are the result of meeting the needs of customers.

The once popular bronze and copper caskets that last longer have given away to wood and steel, he said.

Another big change is in the way services are performed. The traditional way of several days of viewing is moving to having the viewing and service all in the same day. Sometimes, there isn't even a viewing, he said.

“The baby boomers today want a lot more personalization of their services,” Laman said.

People dying today want video presentations of their life and want something about their life in the viewing room, such as a motorcycle if the person was a motorcycle rider. Woodworkers have had wood projects in the room and quilters have had quilts, Laman said.

“It's to show the person's life as they lived it,” he said.

Laman and his staff remember the No. 1 priority is customer service during a hard time.

“One hundred percent satisfaction of all your families is your top priority,” he said.

The constant around the funeral home has been the employees, however. Laman builds his staff around people from the community. A local workforce that grew up here and lives and works in the area has been a key to success.

“We have very little turnover,” he said.