A Wisconsin couple intends to put the “fun” in “funeral” by legally serving alcohol inside a new Milwaukee area funeral home and event complex currently expected to open early next year.
The owners of Integrity Funeral Services in Rochester, Minn., recently received approval to sell alcohol at a nearly 6,000-square-foot facility slated for construction in Burlington, about 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee, the city’s local CBS affiliate reported Tuesday.
And when their new Integrity Celebrations facility opens in February, its proprietors expect mourners will wet their whistles while paying their last respects.
“It’s not common at all,” co-owner Cindi Schweitzer told CBS. “But, again, I really feel like funerals are changing.”
“We’ve gone from three days to three hours, so that’s a big change,” she said. “And I think people are just focused now on ’Hey, let’s celebrate life. This doesn’t have to be a sad drawn-out situation. Let’s celebrate that person.’”
Integrity doesn’t plan to host only funerals. Ms. Schweitzer told Racine’s Journal Times that the facility will double as a multipurpose venue available for all sorts of large events.
“If you want a family reunion, baby shower or bridal shower, company picnic or kid birthday party, come to us,” she told the newspaper. “I have a background in hospitality so I am not afraid to book whatever the needs are for families.”
But with ample space and a newly approved liquor license, the funeral services company has no desire to leave its usual customer base in the dark.
Courtney Melby, Integrity’s sales and event coordinator, told the CBS affiliate that she’s developing “social funeral ideas” utilizing both the large space and the newly approved liquor license and envisions hosting theme funerals rife with a well-stocked bar.
“The nice part about having that right in the facility is that it encourages conversation. It encourages you to have those memories and you don’t have the stress of outsourcing and having to go to a second location,” Ms. Melby said.
The Rochester Village Board unanimously approved granted a Class A beer and liquor license to Integrity Funeral Services on Aug. 14, and Ms. Schweitzer said at the time that she hoped to receive final approval from the Burlington Plan Commission by the end of this month.
Integrity at that point won’t be the only funeral home with an alcohol license. Several establishments have made headlines in recent years for receiving approval to sell beer and liquor. With only about 10,000 people calling Burlington home, however, the facility will likely be the first in the region to offer whiskey at its wakes.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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