The Beyers Story
Our History
In 1920, Ivan E. Beyers established Beyers Funeral Home in Umatilla, Florida. In 1931, Mr. Beyers purchased the L.C. Page Funeral Home in Leesburg and relocated Beyers Funeral Home to its present location. In 1956 we built Central Florida’s first standalone funeral chapel and in 1987 we added the first crematory in Lake and Sumter Counties.
In 1976, Mr. Beyers realized the need to return to Umatilla, and a new chapel was opened under the direction of Doug Hasley and has served the community continuously since. Beyers Funeral Home in Astor was opened as our third funeral chapel in 1983. It was added to meet the needs of a small community that had no “local option” for funeral service and works closely with the staff of our Umatilla chapel to care for the community.
Due to the rapid growth in The Villages-Lady Lake area and desiring to serve the increasing number of families just outside of our Leesburg area, we opened our The Villages-Lady Lake Chapel under the direction of Joe Sellers in 1990. As the area continued to grow, so did we. By renovating and expanding our facilities in 2007, we are now better able to serve these families.
Purcell Funeral Home was established in 1960 by John Purcell to meet the
needs of the Bushnell area.
His vision of a family owned and operated funeral home was continued by his son, Lane, and in 2007, Purcell Funeral Home became part of the Beyers Funeral Home family.
The Beyers Advantage
A large number of funeral homes these days, including many located in this area, are owned and managed by large corporations whose headquarters can be hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Some even attempt to mask this fact, highlighting their "private ownership," however they are still owned by large consolidators with distant headquarters. At those kinds of funeral homes, policies are set and outside staff make decisions without understanding the community in which the funeral home is located. This can result in an impersonal, inflexible way of responding to the needs of grieving families.
For over 100 years, Beyers Funeral Home and Crematory has assisted thousands of local families as they have dealt with the loss of a loved one. We are proud of the reputation we have earned for compassion, sensitivity, honesty, and professionalism. At Beyers, we are family, locally owned and operated. We understand that the variety of financial and personal decisions that accompany making a loved one’s funeral arrangements can seem difficult and overwhelming. It is our privilege and our responsibility to make this process as easy as possible. It our mission to respect your wishes and those of your family.
