John Heath was born in 1835 and had been in business in
Sheffield for a number of years as a Carriage Master, Cabinet Maker
and Funeral Undertaker before he established his firm of Funeral
Directors in the name of John Heath and Sons in 1880.
Over the past 130 years John Heath and Sons has expanded and
adapted to meet the changing needs of the public, and is now
probably the oldest and largest firm of Funeral Directors in the
North of England still owned and run completely by its original
family. Michael Heath and Richard Heath, the great great grandsons
of the first John Heath take pride in the fact that the sixth
generation of their family, Adam Heath and Jason Heath are
continuing to serve the community of Sheffield.
We were the first firm of Funeral Directors in the provinces to
build a Private Chapel. We now have a dozen individual Private
Chapels of Rest adjacent to main Chapel where a deceased person can
be kept in a reverent manner until the time of a Funeral, and where
bereaved families can visit in an atmosphere of quiet dignity. More
recently, John Heath and Sons have expanded and acquired Chapels of
Rest in Banner Cross, Crookes and Stannington.
John Heath and Sons still produce hand crafted coffins in their
own workshops from solid timber, and indeed can produce an
Upholstered Cremation Coffin, a Solid Mahogany Coffin, or
exclusively a Traditional Solid English Oak Coffin. They are still
made to the designs drawn up by the original John Heath.
In John Heath and Sons' second century the Heath family and
Staff aim to maintain the personal attention, caring approach and
sense of vocation which have characterised the operation of the
firm over the past 130 years.