Family business marks 50th anniversary

Oakland Tribune, Dec 11, 2008 by Janice De Jesus

CONCORD -- John and Don Ouimet operate a business by their family for other families.

Running a funeral home has been the Ouimets' life -- a business they manage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And on Dec. 13, the brothers, along with John's wife, Sharon, and Don's wife, Bea, mark the Ouimet Bros. Concord Funeral Chapel's business of providing personal service to local families for 50 years.

Decade after decade, the Concord business has catered to the changing community and its clientele. Their clients include people of all faiths and cultures, and many families who continue to turn to the Ouimets through the years.

"Serving people and serving families is what we're here to do," said Sharon Ouimet.

It all started when John Ouimet changed his plans to become a veterinarian in favor of attending the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science, graduating in 1956. Both he and Sharon worked for a mortuary in San Jose, spending a couple of years acquiring funeral home work experience.

The Ouimets opened Lough-Ouimet Concord Funeral Chapel at the corner of Grant Street and Concord Boulevard in 1958, along with John's Air Force buddy, Roy Lough, and Lough's wife, Ardell.

"We looked around the area for a location to start our business. Concord was a very growing area," said John Ouimet.

A series of circumstances caused a name change. Lough died, and John's brother, Don, a former paint company account executive, and Bea, a former school teacher, joined in 1971, after relocating to California from their home in upstate New York. At that point, the business became Ouimet Bros. Concord Funeral Chapel.

Bea Ouimet said she remembers her initial reaction to funeral homes.

"When we came to visit in 1970, I stood at the back door and thought, 'Do I have to go in this place?'" she said.

However, 38 years later, the family said that Bea is the face of Ouimet Bros. Concord Funeral Chapel -- greeting, helping and comforting families in their time of loss.

"I guess I've always been a people person," Bea Ouimet said. "Each family is different and each has different needs.

"We can't change the experience, but we can provide them comfort during a difficult time."

During redevelopment of downtown Concord in the mid-1980s, the business moved to its present location at 4125 Clayton Road.

"The city of Concord helped us make the move possible," Bea Ouimet said. "There was no lapse of time between moves. We shut one door and opened another.

"This is not the kind of business that can close for any length of time."

Since moving to their Clayton Road location, the Ouimets say people have returned whenever there's a loss in their family.

"We just continue to serve them in the best way we know how," Sharon Ouimet said.

"Funerals are for the living," Don Ouimet added. "We aim to fulfill the wishes of the families."