Boyd’s Funeral Home, The LongestRunning Minority Business In Cleveland

The Boyd family still runs this business; William “Pepper” Boyd leads E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home, with a time had parlors in Cleveland, East Cleveland, and Warrensville Heights.

The E. F. BOYD & SON FUNERAL HOME, INC., one of the oldest African American funeral homes in Cleveland, was founded by Elmer Franklin Boyd in 1905. The following year he took in a partner, Lewis J. Dean, whose business was located at 2604 Central Ave. Dean left the company in 1911. The firm moved to 2276 E. 43rd in 1919; and to 2165 E. 89th Street in

1938, the former Slaughter Brothers Funeral Home.

Boyd, who died in 1944, was a Cleveland Funeral Directors Assn founder and a leader in community affairs. While Real Men Magazine focuses on Economic Empowerment this month, we wanted to highlight the longest-running minority business in town, according to the Western Reserve Historical Society,

The Boyd family still runs this business; William “Pepper” Boyd leads E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home, with a time had parlors in Cleveland, East Cleveland, and Warrensville Heights. Pepper is a Glenville Tarblooder, who attended Michigan State University, and later graduated from Fisk University. He has been a Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity member for over 50 years. After graduating from the Pittsburgh School of Mortuary Science, he joined his father in the family business. He is the oldest child and only son of the late William F. and Mary W. Boyd. Pepper is an avid golfer and bowler. He has been a licensed funeral director and mortician for over 50 years.

His sister Marcella Cox Marcella is the youngest daughter of the late William F., Sr. and Mary W. Boyd and the mother of two. Marcella graduated from Lutheran High Scholl East and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. She attended Baldwin Wallace College and Cleveland State University. Marcella became a licensed funeral director in 1988 and was appointed in September 2017 by Gov. John Kasich to the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, where she served until March 2019. has served as the family’s funeral home’s Vice President and Chief of Community Engagement. Cox became a well-known figure in the community of Funeral home directors and throughout Cleveland. As a member of the Coalition of 100 Black Women, Cox actively promoted activities that benefitted the African American community, such as educational programs on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Cox also belonged to the Cleveland Chapter of Girlfriends, Inc.; The National Council of Negro Women; Jack and Jill, Inc.; the National Funeral Directors Association; the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association; and the Advisory Board of the Love Center Interdenominational Church.

Boyd’s Funeral has dramatically supported the 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland Inc. For over a century, E.F. Boyd has focused on providing families with sympathetic and compassionate professional services for bereavement care. The 100 Black Men of Greater Cleveland, Inc. is full of men with various talents. One such man is Juan Ferebee, an employee of E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home and Crematory who has a reputation for quality, sincerity, and trust. Ferebee is a good man with many great qualities. Happy with his life and the world around him, he is always willing to look out for others and help them. Ferebee has been with the Boyd family for over 30 years as a licensed Funeral Director, Embalmer, and Certified Crematory Specialist. My official title is the Manager of our Care Center, and I wear many hats, managing the Funeral home operations daily. Ferebee seems to think positively and tends to smile and laugh more. You will know if a man has a positive attitude by how he carries himself.