The Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Homes, located in North Adams and Pittsfield, are a family business, both in that family members of the principal owners are and have been involved over generations, and in that the owners see the families they serve as part of their extended family.
“Our philosophy has been to try to serve families to the utmost, and consequently since we’ve had death in our own family, we try to treat all the families as if they were our own family,†said Donato F. Dagnoli. “In other words, it’s our extended family. And it’s been a philosophy for the past 30 years or more, 40 years. If we treat every family as if it were our own family, that is where the success of the business lies.â€
“We feel for them, and we try to provide the best service that we can within our limits,†he said.
Besides working with families of the deceased, funeral directors work with clergy, staff of area cemeteries, local boards of health, the local medical examiners, and city and town hall personnel because of the need to register deaths and get death certificates, he said.
“So we have to work very closely with a lot of people,†he said. “But the closest relationship, obviously, is with the families we serve.â€
In North Adams, Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna operates the Central Chapel at 74 Marshall St. and the West Chapel at 521 West Main St. Donato F. Dagnoli and Nicholas Flynn are two of the three principal owners and run the business.
Rinaldo Dagnoli, brother of Donato, the third principal owner, runs the funeral home in Pittsfield, Flynn & Dagnoli-Bencivenga, located at 5 Elm St.
Donato F. Dagnoli has been in the funeral business since 1968. Before that he worked at the Sprague Electric Company, beginning 1954. After entering the funeral business, he continued to work at Sprague until 1974.
Rinaldo Dagnoli was involved in the funeral business, working for Thomas Montagna, from high school days in the early 1960s, and later went to mortuary school.
“And then he came back and he was here until Mr. Montagna died in 1968. At that point we purchased the business, the two of us together,†Donato F. Dagnoli said.
Thomas C. Montagna had established the funeral home in 1928.
“It was originally Cavazza and Montagna for several years, many years,†Dagnoli said. “Then Mr. Cavazza resigned his position, and it became the Thomas C. Montagna Funeral Home.â€
There were once about five or six funeral homes in North Adams. The Flynn & Roach and Montagna funeral homes consolidated and merged into the Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna funeral homes, Dagnoli said.
The other funeral home in North Adams — Auge-San Soucie-Simmons — is the result of a merger of the Simmons, San Soucie, and Pringle funeral homes into one.
A 24-hour commitment
Between the North Adams and Pittsfield operations, Flynn & Dagnoli Funeral Homes have seven full-time employees and 16 or 17 or so part-time assistants for such things as driving hearses and limousines or staffing calling hours. This translates to about 25 people working on a monthly basis.
“Funeral service is important, of course, and funeral service is a part of our everyday living, and we’re here to serve people,†Dagnoli said. “We’re still family owned. It’s a seven-days, 24-hours-a-day commitment to serve people and help people in their times of trouble.
“It’s been that way from the beginning, when the business was established by Mr. [Edward F.] Flynn senior in 1928, and Mr. Montagna established his business in 1928,†he said. “It’s interesting that both Mr. Flynn and Mr. Montagna established their own funeral homes in 1928, and now it’s all merged.â€
“It’s a commitment. It’s not really work — it’s a commitment, and we’re available seven days a week, 24-hours a day. We do take days for rest, and we do take vacations even though people don’t realize it, but we do. But there are no set hours. The staff works approximately 40-to-50 hours a week.â€
“The owners are in and out seven days a week,†Dagnoli said with a laugh. “When you’re self-employed, there are no such thing as hours.â€
“But it’s a very rewarding career and profession,†added Nicholas Flynn.
“Our families are our friends, when they grieve, we grieve, and we try to help them through many aspects of the grieving process, at the time of the death service and then the aftermath of losing someone,†Flynn said. “You’re still in the community. You run into people. You see people. You have dinner with people, you have lunch with people, you pray with people,†he said. “And so you feel their loss just as if it were your own, and they feel your losses as if they were their own, too.â€
A three-stage process
Dagnoli said there is more to their profession than what goes on immediately after a death.
“The other aspect of funeral service which is not as well-known is the after-funeral service, especially with widows who need some guidance,†he said. “So we do a lot more than just the funeral service. We help them with their social security, redemption of insurance policies, and a lot of other things.â€
Another aspect is the prearrangement of funerals before a death, Flynn said.
“So before and after care is as essential as at-care, so it’s almost a three-stage process,†Flynn said.
Added Dagnoli, “In recent years, it’s really becoming a three-stage process. It’s pre-need counseling, pre-need preparation or making arrangements in many cases, especially if extended long-term nursing home care is going to be involved.â€
“Then, of course, at some point in time the death occurs, so there’s at-need counseling. And as a result of the funeral, then there’s after-need counseling,†he said. “So things have changed [from] as it was back in 1928, changed quite a bit. We’re in a different era now.â€
Flynn explained that with the mobility of society now, with younger generations living out of the area, parents and grandparents may prearrange their funeral to ease the younger generations’ burdens.
“When you do get a loss, it’s a shocking, terrible feeling,†Flynn said. “When you get that loss to know that someone has taken care of things in advance is a gift.â€
Said Dagnoli, “It’s a comfort actually. It’s a comfort knowing. We get many phone calls from third-generation, like grandchildren, or second generation, children, [asking] if their parents have already made their arrangements, because things aren’t good. And most of them are very happy that everything’s been prearranged, so to speak, so they don’t have to worry too much.â€
Flynn said this give people a chance to make travel plans and get their children ready and talk with them about the death. And it gives the older generation control over the arrangements after they die.
“I don’t know how many people have said it makes a huge difference,†Flynn said. “And the people who sit down get what they want.â€
Family Ties
Flynn actually was involved in the business well before 1986, after the death of his father, Edward T.P. Flynn.
“Before that, as any family member of a funeral director — you call that ‘family pay’ — you come in. I started in high school. I enjoyed the social part of my father, my father had a social component to his personality. So I enjoyed meeting people,†Flynn said. “So even younger — I’m from a family of six — I would...tag along for two reasons: one is that I enjoyed my father’s company, two, to get out of my mother’s hair. I think all funeral directors’ children start at a younger age just helping out.â€
Flynn’s grandfather came from the Bennington, Vt. area after World War I, where his father was associated with a funeral home, and opened a funeral business on Eagle Street in North Adams. At this time most wakes were still held in homes, Flynn said.
Flynn’s father and Donato F. Dagnoli became partners in 1969.
Donato Dagnoli’s wife owns Berkshire Monumental Works, located in North Adams, and Rinaldo Dagnoli’s wife owns Ancestry Memorials in Pittsfield.
Donato F. Dagnoli’s son, Donato B. Dagnoli, is a prominent presence in the North Adams funeral business.
“Some of the funeral homes who did not have offspring, have sold out to major national corporations. Traditionally, funeral service went from father to son to grandson, that sort of thing,†said the elder Dagnoli. “In recent years, national corporations have stepped in to pick up different funeral homes where there was no succession.
“We already have one in Pittsfield that is owned by a national corporation, but North Adams and Adams, we’re still family owned,†he said.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.
In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.
Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear.
The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.
"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."
Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.
In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.
The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.
"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.
The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.
In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.
"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said.
Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.
click for more
