Berardinelli Funeral Home, also known as Berardinelli Family Funeral Service, celebrated 50 years of service to the community of Santa Fe, New Mexico on Saturday, June 29, 2019. They held quite a party, with at least 100 locals participating in a uniquely Santa Fe-flavored event.
There was music and dancing, cake and food, face painting and a bouncy house for the kids, and a drawing for local art items, including a model of a Southwestern church made of punched tin, a decorated cross, and — this being a funeral home — an artistic urn for cremated remains.
The attendance showed just how much Berardinelli Family Funeral Service is a part of the Santa Fe community. The funeral home opened in February of 1969. With the backing of three investors, Robert and Patt Berardinelli sold virtually everything they had to realize a lifelong dream they shared – to open and operate a funeral home with the focus of providing the most caring and professional service available anywhere.
Meet Rick Berardinelli
While I was sitting in the shade of a tent, enjoying the music of Manzanares, Rick Berardinelli came over to speak with me. Robert and Patt’s son has been involved with the family business since 1975.
Berardinelli said, “It’s been incredibly gratifying to hear so many of the people here today saying, ‘You did my grandfather’s funeral, and I remember how well you served our family that day.’ We are so proud of our staff who go the distance for the people in our community.”
Rick Berardinelli grew up in Santa Fe. He attended Los Niños Kindergarten, Wood Gormley Elementary School, Harrington Junior High, the University of New Mexico, and Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute, where he earned an Associate of Arts in Culinary Arts as a Sous Chef. He worked in that capacity for three years, then attended the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1975.
Over the years he has held the positions of Vice President, President, CEO and Funeral Service Consultant. Rick has earned the credentials of Certified Funeral Service Practitioner (CFSP), a result of many years of education and activities related to his profession. He has served as a member and chairman of the New Mexico Board of Thanatopractice; as a board member and president of the New Mexico Funeral Service Association; as a member and lecturer with the National Funeral Directors Association; and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Office of the Medical Investigator for the State of New Mexico.
Judging from the attendance at the celebration, Berardinelli Family Funeral Home is well beloved by the community they serve. Meet the funeral home’s staff.
Berardinelli Funeral Home will host Santa Fe events for the 3rd annual Before I Die New Mexico Festival, taking place November 2-10, 2019. Activities in Santa Fe will take place on Wednesday, November 6. Learn more at BeforeIDieNM.com.
Some photos from the celebration
