Ancient funerals

Following in his father's footsteps, Gustave Gravel founded the Maison funéraire Gravel & Fils in 1940. At that time, Gustave was already showing his sense of duty and of work well done by perfecting his skills and developing a new preservation method which is now called "thanatopraxis".

The first funeral home to open was located in the heart of downtown Chicoutimi, more specifically at 304 Racine Street East. Afterwards, Gustave Gravel proceeded with the opening of two other funeral homes at the beginning of the 1950s, always with the goal of meeting families' needs in the area. One of these facilities was located at 651 de la Grande-Baie Boulevard South, in La Baie, while the second one was opened in Doctor Tanguay's residence, across from the Saint-Alphonse church in Bagotville.

Ancient funerals

In 1960, Mr. Gravel's sons, Robert and Michel, took over the family business. They carried on their father Gustave's efforts by developing a network of infrastructures within community halls located in Rivière-Éternité, l'Anse Saint-Jean and Petit-Saguenay. Their goal at the time was simple: offering quality services to families within these municipalities. To further its development, the company opened a new funeral home in Rivière-du-Moulin in 1974 which was located at 50 Arthur Hamel Street.

Mgr. Jean-Guy Couture, the diocese’s bishop at the time, consecrated the Gravel & Fils chapel.

Furthermore, in 1976 the Résidences funéraires Gravel & Fils became the undisputed leader in the funeral services sector. They opened a new complex that introduced an innovative concept which integrated a crematorium and columbarium. This facility was located at 825 Bégin Avenue at the corner of the Champs-Élysées Street in Chicoutimi. To improve its infrastructure, the company opened a new funeral home in La Baie (873 de la Fabrique Street) where there was also a columbarium designed to meet newly expressed needs of families within the sector.

A man of vision always as committed as ever to his community, Robert Gravel was the instigator of a renovation project of more than a million dollars which was recently implemented at the funeral home on Bégin Street in the Chicoutimi district. The work performed improved services to families with a new chapel,reception hall and a new columbarium concept. From now on, facilities are better equipped to promote recollection when families celebrate last farewells.

Today, the company is under the direction of Robert Gravel's three daughters, that is Betsy, Kathie and Audrey. They benefit from their father's sound advice as they continue to consolidate his work, never loosing sight of the quality and courteous service commitment carried out by the company's founder in 1940.