It’s not a church in the classic sense, but one of the owners of Hilgenfeld Mortuary sees what she does as being a “ministry” to families who have lost a loved one.
“I love helping people in a difficult time in their lives,” said Becky Field-Areias, part-owner and secretary-treasurer of the 82-year-old Anaheim mortuary. “It does take a special person (to be) in this line of work.”
Hilgenfeld Mortuary was honored with the longevity award at the annual Family Owned Business Award lunch hosted by the Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton’s Family Business Council on Nov. 19 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.
Four generations of Hilgenfelds have worked at the mortuary, which is one of a dwindling number of smaller, privately owned mortuaries.
“There’s not too many of us left anymore,” Field-Areias said. “Mom and dad and I have always been a team.”
She said she consults with her parents, President Margie Hilgenfeld-Field and Vice President Gary Field, on important decisions. But she said “We’ve always been in agreement.”
Field-Areias said she and her parents don’t have formal board meetings. They do have other meetings, such as an annual one with their certified public accountant.
The Fields are semi-retired; Field-Areias oversees the mortuary’s everyday operations.
Field-Areias started at Hilgenfeld when she was 15 years old, “doing the books” under grandfather Melvin’s supervision. She soon graduated to other tasks, including driving the mortuary’s limousine or getting a doctor’s signature on a death certificate.
“I truly learned as I went,” Field-Areias said. “My grandpa was my No. 1 mentor; my mom was a great teacher. I have big shoes to fill with those two.”
She became the mortuary’s accounting manager in 1980 and received her funeral director’s license in 1989.
The family’s patriarch, Rev. Samuel Hilgenfeld, who was a pastor at a church in Buena Park, helped start the Hilgenfeld-Rollins Funeral Parlor in Brea in the 1920s.
A few years later, Samuel Hilgenfeld and his wife, Lydia, moved to Anaheim to run a new funeral home that was sold to the Hilgenfeld-Rollins partnership. That home was established in 1920 as the Huddle Funeral Home at the corner of Anaheim Boulevard and Broadway.
Melvin Hilgenfeld started working as a funeral director and embalmer in the 1930s. In 1942, the family moved the funeral home from its original location at 202 W. Broadway to its current location at 120 E. Broadway, at the corner of Anaheim Boulevard.
Samuel Hilgenfeld died in 1966. Melvin Hilgenfeld, who also served as president of the Los Angeles College of Mortuary Science, died in 1984.
Margie Hilgenfeld-Field joined the business in 1971 as an administrative assistant, and she became the mortuary’s president in 1985, a year after her father’s death. Gary Field came into the business shortly after his father-in-law’s death.
Meanwhile, Field-Areias said that her husband, Jim, helps out as needed, and her daughter, Brittney, who goes to Cypress College, helps out on her breaks from school. But she said a decision hasn’t been made yet about whether Brittney will become the fifth generation leader of the business.
Hilgenfeld has nine other non-family workers.
Hilgenfeld Mortuary’s also given back. The family established the Hilgenfeld Foundation Scholarship, which provides ongoing educational opportunities and training for students and professionals in the funeral service industry.
The family established the scholarship program after Melvin Hilgenfeld sold the Los Angeles College of Mortuary Science to Cypress College and created the Hilgenfeld Foundation.
