Westbrook Memorial Chapel was founded in 1928 to serve Cleveland’s Lutheran and Catholic neighborhoods. Over four generations the city, the chapel, and our practice have grown to serve the full religious texture of this place.
This page is a guide. Whether you have come to us because of your tradition, your clergy’s recommendation, or because you have no congregation at all, we will sit with you and help you choose the rite that fits the family. We do not ask families to choose a tradition that is not theirs. We simply know how to serve each one correctly.
The four traditions we have practiced longest, and which form Westbrook’s signature offering, are: Christian (Protestant and non-denominational), Catholic, Jewish, and the Black church homegoing. Each has its own vocabulary, its own pace, its own structure of the service. Each is described in full on its own page below.
Use the pack switcher in our navigation to see how the rest of the chapel speaks for each tradition — the headlines change, the service names change, the clergy testimonials change. It is the same chapel; the pack changes which language we speak in.
Our default pack. We serve the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopal, non-denominational, and unaffiliated Christian families of Cleveland. We work alongside your pastor, follow your church’s order of service, and never replace the role of the congregation.
The service is typically a traditional Christian funeral — Scripture (often Psalm 23, John 14, Romans 8), hymns chosen by the family, a eulogy or two from family and friends, the pastor’s homily, and a prayer of committal. Burial or cremation. Both are honored.
You are reading the Christian (default) tradition page
The Order of Christian Funerals is one of the most thoroughly structured rites in the Christian world, and the Cleveland Catholic Diocese is one of the most active in the country. We have served Catholic families in Cleveland in every decade since 1928. We know the Vigil for the Deceased (often with the Rosary), the Mass of Christian Burial, and the Rite of Committal — and we know that none of them is optional.
Read about our Catholic practice →
We have coordinated with Cleveland’s chevra kadisha — the burial society — since the 1940s. Today we work with Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple, Park Synagogue, B’nai Jeshurun, Tifereth Israel, and the Modern Orthodox congregations of Beachwood. Jewish funerals are time-sensitive — burial within 24 hours where possible — and ritually exact. Simple pine casket (aron), tachrichim, taharah, shomrim, the kaddish, and the unveiling eleven months later.
Read about our Jewish practice →
The homegoing is a particular Christian tradition with deep roots in Cleveland’s historic Black churches. We work with Antioch Baptist, Olivet Institutional, Mount Pleasant, Liberty Hill Baptist, and many AME and COGIC congregations across the East Side. The service is a celebration: the obituary read aloud, the choir, the testimonies, the eulogy preached, and the procession to the cemetery followed by the repast in the fellowship hall.
Read about our homegoing practice →
We have served Greek and Russian Orthodox families, Muslim families (in coordination with the Islamic Center of Cleveland for the ghusl and kafan), and families of no congregation at all. The four traditions above are our deepest practice. They are not our only practice.
If yours is not on this list, call us. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right chapel for your family, and if we are not, we will recommend one that is.