Jeff Cushman wants to make one thing crystal clear: The consolidation of three Superior funeral homes into Downs Life Celebration Center will have the families it cares for at the core of its mission.
“It’s our goal to serve the community as best as we can,” the Downs’ funeral director said. “We live here, we’re a part of it and we have great relationships with so many people in the communities. We just want to do good by them.”
Downs Funeral Home acquired the Downs-LeSage and Lenroot-Maetzold funeral homes, a move that compiles hundreds of years of work in the mortuary business in Superior. Downs started serving the community in 1888; Downs-LeSage opened in 1896; and Lenroot-Maetzold started in 1945. The latter two homes were under the same ownership since 1986.
The newly rebranded Downs Life Celebration Center opened at 1902 North 34th Street in June 2024 and most services will be gathered under that one roof. They sold the Downs-LeSage building at 1304 Hammond Avenue and the Lenroot-Maetzold facility at 1209 East Fifth Street.
The prior building was old and outdated, while the new space has fresh amenities, accessibility and added efficiency for clients.
“When we built the new facility, we wanted to kind of plan it around the type of services that are happening today,” said Cushman, who was born and raised in the Twin Ports and has been working with Downs since 2006. “More people are wanting lunches or celebrations of life, so we call it a Celebration of Life Center instead of a funeral home. We still offer every option in the funeral industry that we can.”
The space includes a large reception hall with enhanced audio-visual capabilities, a crematory on site as well as a veterans’ sidewalk with flag poles for those seeking service with military honors.
The one-level space also has a large parking lot that is handicap accessible for guests.
“From the call we receive (after someone passes away) until the final arrangements we have that person in our care and it’s just accommodating everybody,” Cushman said. “We still do off-site services at churches and all that stuff, too, but we just wanted to have a facility for people that was new and up to date.”
Jeff Cushman (left), funeral director/owner and Steve Elsmore, funeral director/owner.
Options
Steve Elsmore, a Downs business partner and a funeral director, said the current transition period comes with a priority to communicate the continuation of care. If someone had funeral services arranged at one of the closed homes, that planned-for care will be honored by Downs.
“I just think making sure their information is intact, their monies are intact and they’re able to continue on,” said Elsmore, who is from Duluth and has been with Downs since 2022.
Historically end-of-life planning, including funeral homes services, often stay at the same place for generations.
“So acquiring these other locations, there’s people that have gone there for years and families that have gone there for generations,” Cushman said. “Our goal is to just earn their trust and provide a great service.”
Cushman said state law in Wisconsin calls for every pre-funded funeral arrangement to be transferable, Downs wants clients to know of that possibility.
“We want to give them options and do what’s best for them,” Cushman said.
“So the law protects them to know that they always have the choice of who they want to use.”
Pet crematory
Downs’ care will soon extend to other members of the family – the beloved furry ones.
The Cremation Service of Superior building at 403 East Street, which was part of the acquisition, is in the process of becoming a pet crematory. The goal is to have that project complete within the next two years.
Cushman’s family dealt with the “horrible” loss of Ruby, their 17-year-old Shih Tzu dog. They made the gut-wrenching decision to euthanize at home but had to take their pup out of town for the next steps. Previous pet crematory options were either in Cloquet, Grand Rapids or the Twin Cities area, Cushman said.
“That really kind of got my wheels spinning on needing something local here,” Cushman said. “Having been through that myself, having to put a pet down, we need something local. An option that people can have to hopefully make that transition easier for them.”
Family business
“There’s a lot of history with the three funeral homes,” Cushman said. “We wanted to make sure as (employees) get older and retire in our industry that we had continuity and the community can trust us.”
On top of leaders in Cushman and Elsmore, Downs hired Glen Novack as a funeral director in December. The Superior native started in the business in 1994.
They also employ four assistant funeral directors, an apprentice funeral director and an office manager. They brought over two employees from the other homes, in Cody Downs and Luke Norman to work in the crematory.
“Then we have a number of part-time helpers, which are usually retired people,” Cushman said. “My mom helps out, my wife helps out, Steve’s wife helps out. It’s really a family-oriented business. We have great members of the community that are our assistants and helpers and our families. (Clients) have a connection when they come in.”
The funeral business does not have the standard 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours of operation.
“It’s a job that’s 24 hours a day. We can get called at three in the morning and from the minute we leave to when (the loved one) leaves here, we want to make sure that we’re serving them as best we can,” Cushman said. “Our attention to detail, our commitment to service and just making sure we meet all the needs that the families are looking for as best we can.”
Andy Greder is a Twin Cities-based freelance writer.
