MAXTON-ROSADO FUNERAL HOME REVIVE HISTORIC CENTRALIA LOCATION
Maxton-Rosado Funeral Home
618-532-7321
134 S. Elm St, Centralia, IL
Affordable Funeral Home Services in Southern Illinois
Bill and Vonda Rosado, owners of the Maxton-Rosado Funeral Home, said they are looking forward to being a part of the Centralia community.
According to the Rosado’s funeral service isn’t just about the arrangements, it’s about serving the community and helping the people in it.
“[Owning a funeral home] is about building relationships and being friends with the people in the community,” said Bill. “It’s not about having clients.”
“We are here to serve the community and help people, that’s what funeral service should be,” said Vonda, a 31-year funeral director and embalmer. “Community involvement is so important, and it’s not just sitting here inside the funeral home. It is being out and about in the community. That’s one of the big reasons why we fell in love with funeral services.”
Currently honoring all of the former Moran Queen-Boggs Funeral Home’s arrangements in full, the Rosados insisted that every family that walks through their doors will be seen as equals receiving only the highest level of service.
“When a family comes in, our staff does a really good job of understanding their situation and finding a solution for them,” Bill said. “If it’s something where we’ll have to work with payment plans, then we’ll work with payment plans,” he said. “If someone qualifies for opportunities from the state, then we’ll work with the state.”
In addition, Maxton-Rosado Funeral Home offers a Veterans Program which provides a free casket or urn to military veterans and their loved one, as well as arrangements for pets.
Opened and accepting arrangements in the summer of 2024, the funeral home is still in a state of renovation, and neither Bill nor Vonda are shying away from the controversies surrounding the funeral home’s former ownership.
“There is a negative stigma that we knew we would be up against,” said Vonda, who advised both the basement and prep-room of the home are being completely restored. “All of our preparation work is being done out of DuQuoin at the moment. We have gutted the entire basement and are redoing the prep-room facility. That is our next major project.”
Bill added, “We knew we had an uphill battle coming in, but everybody that has come in has been more than welcoming. They are just so happy to see that the building is being restored and taken care of.”
Along with funeral directors Amanda Shroyer and Kirstin Altom, the Rosados seek to not only reintroduce the funeral home into the community but embrace it as a piece of historic downtown Centralia.
“We saw through some of the challenges within the facility here,” explained Bill, who advised the first floor of the building has been restored and refurnished along with the addition of an all-new family lounge. “We saw where it was and saw the history that was here, and we could see how we wanted to bring it back.”
Located on the corner of South Elm and E. 2nd Street, the Maxton-Rosado Funeral Home building was built in the late 1800s by a cigar magnate and features stained glass windows and ornate oak woodwork. The building has been a staple of Centralia and has welcomed numerous generations of families within the community.
