History of Lutton Funeral Home

In 1897, Lyle S. Lutton, who operated a plastering contracting business throughout western Pennsylvania that was headquartered in Beaver Falls, purchased an old opera house which had been converted into a skating rink at 720 11th Street in Beaver Falls and in turn, converted it into a livery stable. The building next door at 718 11th Street was made into an undertaking parlor. He maintained the business as L.S. Lutton Undertaking and Livery.

In December of 1912, his son George Lutton became a licensed undertaker and joined his father in the business then known as L.S. Lutton and Son, both dedicated to caring for and assisting in the needs of others. They maintained the business until 1917 when the horses and equipment from the livery stable were sold to David Marquis. The livery stable was the converted into an automotive repair and sales garage, handling several makes of cars including the "Oakland". One gas pump in front of the old livery stable supplied the only gas available between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. In 1925, they started the cleaners product company and manufactured hand, paint and wall paper cleaners in the upstairs area of the old livery stable. In 1927, they completely remodeled the undertaking parlor into a funeral home and operated as the Lutton Funeral Home from that day forward. Also in 1927, they opened the Lutton Flower Shop. The funeral home continued operations at 718 11th Street until 1937 when the property was acquired to build the present day United States Post Office. The flower shop and funeral home moved to 1305 8th Avenue in Beaver Falls and during the transition, Lyle Lutton, the founder of the business, died on February 18th, 1938. The business continued operations at that location until 1945.

In 1945, the William Moltrup Mansion, then known as the Benson Mansion, at 1117 5th Avenue was acquired and the funeral home and flower business were moved there. George's son, John Lutton, was also seeking a life of service to the community when he too became a licensed funeral director joined his father in late 1945 after returning from the service and continued the stellar family tradition started by his grandfather. In 1951, George Lutton became semi-retired and sold the business to his son, John G. Lutton.

In 1956, George Lutton came out of retirement to purchase the John Desanzo property in Koppel, PA and started a funeral home at that location. In 1962, the flower shop part of the business was sold by John Lutton to Twila Dick and it was moved to New Brighton, PA. Lyle Lutton in his livery days purchased and maintained the first emergency ambulance service in Beaver County and that business continued until 1973 when it was sold to Mayfair Ambulance Service. In 1952, the first addition was built on the Lutton Funeral Home in Beaver Falls by closing in the front porch and adding air conditioning throughout the building. In 1960, the second addition was made on the 11th Street side of the building and in 1964, another addition was added to the 12th Street side of the building. In 1967, the main staircase going to the second floor and the portico between the main house and the garage was built.

In 1973, Park Lutton became a fourth generation licensed funeral director after graduation from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and joined his father as a licensed funeral director. In 1976, the previously purchased Hannah House at 1111 5th Avenue was torn down to add additional parking for the 5th Avenue facility. That same year, the side yard of the Koppel facility was converted into additional parking for the convenience of the public. In 1979, John and Park Lutton formed a family restricted corporation to operate the business with John Lutton being chairman and Park Lutton being the president. In 1981, John Lutton became semi-retired and total management of the business was turned over to his son, Park D. Lutton, Sr. Sadly, in 1973 and only sixty days apart, George L. and Elva D. Lutton passed away but in 1961 they had the foresight to realize that Chippewa Township was a growing community and they along with Dr. Howard Swick, Jr purchased the property at 117 Blackhawk Road. In the spring of 1983 under the leadership of Park Lutton and his wife Lynn (Deluca) Lutton, the business expanded into the modern, state of the art facility presently in Chippewa Township at the 117 Blackhawk Road Address, bringing to three the total of locations where the Lutton family can provide to you the genuine and heartfelt comfort you seek in your family's time of need. A long and storied history of one family's quest to serve you and your family.