Two chapels — Salem and Danvers. The same family answering the phone, day or night, since your grandparents were children.
A licensed funeral director is awake, listening, and ready to help you take the next small step — at any hour.
A funeral is not a transaction. It is a moment a family will remember for the rest of their lives. We treat it that way, every time.
In 1925, Henry J. O'Donnell Sr. began serving Salem families from a storefront on Mill Hill in the city's downtown. The work was personal from day one.
After the war, Henry Sr. was joined by his sons Henry Jr. and William. Together they purchased the house on the Historic Salem Common — 46 Washington Square — where the chapel still stands. Thomas O'Donnell carried the work for three decades, refurbishing the building in 1972. Today Anthony, the fourth generation, answers the same phone his great-grandfather first picked up a century ago.
Read our story →From the most traditional to the simplest cremation. Nothing is added that you did not ask for. Nothing is left out that matters.
Planning a funeral in advance is one of the kindest things you can do for the people you love. It removes a hundred small decisions from a day that will already be hard.
There is no cost to sit with us. No paperwork is signed unless you ask. We will come to your kitchen table if that is easier.
Start a quiet conversation →"We have been answering the phone in Salem for a hundred years. That never changes, no matter what else does."
— Anthony O'Donnell, fourth-generation ownerOur directors follow up with every family we serve. We maintain an updated list of grief support groups across Essex County and stay available long after the service is over — at no cost.
Resources and support →Flag folding and presentation. Honor guard coordination. VA paperwork done by directors who have walked it through a hundred times. For every branch, every era. No charge for the help.
Veteran services →If you would like to walk through one of our chapels, or simply talk about what you might want for yourself or someone you love — there is never any pressure, and never any cost.