Gaines Funeral Home
1919 - 2011
Location/OriginHomestead, PA
Location/OriginPittsburgh, PA
BiographyThe Gaines Funeral Home was possibly the oldest black family-owned business in Pittsburgh since its establishment in 1919 by George W. Gaines. George Gaines died in 1953 and his wife Julia Gaines took up the reins as the director of the funeral home. She then received her Funeral Director’s license in 1963. George Gaines’ son, Toby Gaines followed in his father’s step and attained his mortician’s license in 1980 to become the next director of the funeral home. Before this, he went to the University of Pittsburgh and got a master’s degree in counselor education. The funeral home relocated in 1921 to the former Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in the East End of Pittsburgh. However, the funeral home burnt down on 6 June 2011.
