By Kathleen Schiop
One of the most traumatizing events in our lives is the loss of a loved one. No matter how emotionally prepared we think we are, it’s still difficult to reconcile with never having that person in our lives again, which is why making funeral arrangements for our family members who have passed can be so difficult. Finding the right people to guide you through those always emotional decisions can be challenging, and with more and more choices available, also confusing.
This is where the Florida Mortuary Funeral & Cremation Services (FMFC) “Arrangement Center” in the Pebble Creek Collection on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. (a mile south of the Pasco County line) can help. Unlike the many corporate-owned funeral homes in the Tampa Bay area, FMFC is a local, family-owned business which has been providing compassionate, comprehensive and reasonably priced funeral and secure cremation services in the Tampa Bay area for more than a quarter of a century.
Long-time New Tampa resident John Loyless is the owner of not only FMFC (which also is the name of his original location in Seminole Heights, which opened in 1987), but also of the Loyless Funeral Home on U.S. 41 in Land O’Lakes, which opened in 1994.
Loyless stresses to local residents that the New Tampa location of FMFC, which opened in August of this year, is only an “Arrangement Center,” where you can go and see all of the services his company can offer at his three locations, even though no burials, cremations or memorial services will ever be held at the BBD location.
A Little History
Loyless says that he was motivated to make mortuary service his career choice while in college. “I graduated from the University of South Florida,” he says, “and I took a part-time job while in school at a funeral home in Tampa, where the father of one of my good friends was a funeral director.” When he graduated from USF, Loyless then earned an A.S. degree in Mortuary Science from Miami-Dade College, before returning to his native Tampa. He served his state-required, one-year internship with another local mortuary before opening his first FMFC on N. Nebraska Ave. in 1987.
“There are no funeral homes in New Tampa or Wesley Chapel at all, so having a local office close by is convenient for the residents here,” he says, adding that one of the major differences between FMFC and most other funeral homes in the Tampa Bay area is that his business is completely locally owned and operated — as are all of his facilities needed for things like the embalming or secure cremation of your loved one’s remains. He believes that the BBD Arrangement Center, with its tasteful and calming environment, can make a significant difference in the quality of care New Tampa-area residents and their family members receive from his company.
“People in New Tampa know me as a neighbor and a friend,” says Loyless, who has lived with his family in Hunter’s Green since the early 1990s. “That allows me to give them a more personal experience in helping with arrangements for their loved ones who have passed.”
Changing With The Times
Loyless says that the funeral/mortuary business has changed substantially over the last several years. “More people, by far, are selecting cremation than burial these days, whereas only 10 years or so ago, most people were still burying their loved ones,” he says.
At the Arrangement Center, an FMFC representative can show you a variety of cremation urns and other vessels, as well as videos and brochures of everything from caskets to where the company buries those who choose traditional burial and other options, such as being able to transfer the body if the deceased already owns a burial plot in another part of Florida or even another state.
“In other words, all of our services can be arranged right here,” he says. He adds that the State of Florida strictly regulates the mortuary business, “So, even though we don’t handle bodies or cremations here at the Arrangement Center, this facility is still a fully-licensed funeral home, as if we were doing everything here.”
As an example, a family may decide to do everything in-house at any of the three FMFC-owned locations (Loyless has five other licensed morticians and a total staff of about 30, making FMFC one of the largest independent mortuary companies in the Tampa Bay area). Or, they can choose to use only FMFC’s embalming or crematory services and then hold their memorial service at their church or even at a club where they are a member.
“Our Seminole Heights location is the only licensed on-site crematory in Tampa,” he says, adding that even with a cremation, FMFC can rent a casket to those who want a traditional viewing of the body or wish to hold a memorial service with the body present before cremating the remains.
Although the FMFC Arrangement Center in Pebble Creek has only been open a short time, Loyless notes, “We’ve already had a family who lives in Pebble Creek who did a memorial service at St. Mark Church on Cross Creek Blvd. who had made pre-arrangements with our Loyless Funeral Home in Land O’Lakes, but ended up finalizing all of their arrangements here at the Arrangement Center. It made everything a lot more convenient for them.”
A testimonial written by the Larson family of New Tampa says, “The funeral directors are compassionate, detailed, considerate, intelligent, helpful, professionally dressed and timely. The staff is trained well and works well together. The funeral home (Loyless) itself is well kept with a nice décor and the ceremony was tailored to meet our needs. Loyless Funeral Home provided a positive experience during this sad and difficult time.”
Loyless says, “We are always conscious of the family’s budget and other needs and because we can do everything in-house, we usually are more cost-effective than our competition,” he says, noting that a mortuary which has a large parent company located in another state dictating things like costs of services usually doesn’t allow the local funeral home the option of reducing costs based upon need. FMFC also can handle arrangements for people of any religion and has connections with many local churches, temples, etc., as well as access to grief counselors, local hospice organizations, probate attorneys, flowers and more.
According to Loyless, only about 10 percent of families these days already have prearranged funeral/mortuary services.
“Certainly, the passing of some people may be completely unexpected,” he says. “But, some people have trouble making those plans for a loved one in advance, even when they know the end is inevitable. We do appreciate the people who make their arrangements ahead of time, but whenever you know you need the services we provide, we’ll still make sure everything gets taken care of properly.”
He adds, “We never want you to feel like you just sign a contract and that’s all we do. We always follow up with every family we serve to make sure they were satisfied with our services. We strive to provide the finest, most compassionate care to each and every family we serve.”
A Family Name You Know
Loyless has been married for 27 years to his wife Starr, who also works for the company in the Seminole Heights location, as does their older daughter Brittni, who graduated from Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee. Younger daughter Alexia also graduated from FSU and is starting medical school in May. Both girls attended Hunter’s Green Elementary, Louis Benito Middle School and Paul R. Wharton High and the Loyless family belongs to Hunter’s Green Country Club, where John plays as much golf as he has time for, although he says he also enjoys fishing in his spare time.
Florida Mortuary Funeral & Cremation Services proudly serves families in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee and Polk counties and provides secure cremations to families throughout the Tampa Bay area at its three locations — which are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
The FMFC Arrangement Center at 19651 BBD Blvd., Suite E-2 (call 991-7500); the FMFC Main Office, Crematory & Chapel (4601 N. Nebraska Ave., 237-2900); and Loyless Funeral Home (5310 Land O’Lakes Blvd., 996-6610).
Visit FloridaMortuary.net for a comprehensive list of all available services, including special services offered for U.S. military veterans.
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