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Monarch Center opened by Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes
September, 2000
 by Norm Singleton, Times Reporter Business Editor
T-R Business Feature Story - September 24, 2000
The facility, which has parking for more than 40 vehicles, includes both a large and small meeting area, as well as a full service kitchen, and is completely handicap accessible. The funeral home will arrange for recording and video taping and will make available presentation equipment suitable to the meeting needs of a company or organization. Limousine service is available from the place of business or the local airport.
Catering can be arranged with a wide variety of dining options, and food can also be brought into the facility by families and organizations.
''Everything is taken completely care of - from set up to cleanup,'' JohnHerzig said.
Herzig pointed out that the funeral home is offering bereavement products and services through the center. Included are unique items that can’t be found in stores such as personalized memorial videos and photos, books, audio visuals pertaining to grief and unique sympathy cards.
''We also get a lot of phone calls at the funeral home for pet items, such as caskets and cremation urns for pets,'' Herzig explained. ''People can obtain these items here or we will have a link on our Web site so that the can actually purchase them through the Internet.''
Todd Little, director of bereavement services for Toland-Herzig, will be working out of both the funeral home and the Monarch Center, and plans to hold bereavement seminars in the center.
''It’s a central location and a little less of an emotional experience,'' Little explained. ''Coming back to the funeral home for a lot of folks could be really hard after a loss.''
Little said the support group that he has had for three years as of this October had outgrown the facilities at the funeral home. It has been meeting in the Monarch Center for the last 1 1/2 months.
''I think we’ve averaged around 12 people per group,'' Little said. ''It’s a two-fold program. The first part of it is a 10-week program and that’s called our Chrysalis Group. It is an educational and support group. Then, after that we encourage folks to become part of our Monarch Group, which entails more social time. They still get support, but it’s more socially-oriented.''
Little said he still has ladies who were in his first group, adding that activities of the Monarch Group have ranged from trips to a Cleveland Indians game and Carousel Dinner Theater to a hot dog roast.
John Delcoma, director of pre-planning for Toland-Herzig, plans to use the center for community information programs on the benefits of pre-planning. He said that since pre-planning has become so popular, people want more information.
''Public seminars like this are always helpful because they are getting all the information they need without having to come to the funeral home,'' Delcoma said.
He said last year Toland-Herzig virtually did as many pre-planned funerals as it handled at the time of need.
''It’s just so much easier to make all your decisions in a pre-planning situation because there isn’t any stress,'' Delcoma said. ''Families need to realize - and this is the thing that I always stress to them - the hardest part of pre-planning is calling the funeral home and asking for more information. After they make the initial contact it’s really easy. And that’s what families always tell me.''
Delcoma said he is told by families that they have been talking about doing pre-planning for years before they finally came in and took care of it. The response has been ''Boy, that was easy,'' and ''That’s a weight off my shoulders.''
''I would say another big misconception about pre-planning is that you have to pay for your funeral right then and there, and that is not the case,'' Delcoma said. ''Although pre-paying is a wise financial decision, it is never required. The thing I like to do is give the families all the options before they leave so they can determine what’s best for them.''
Toland-Herzig showcased the Monarch Center earlier this month during a Business After Hours that it sponsored in cooperation with the Tuscarawas County Chamber of Commerce.
Among those attending was Steve Gehlert, executive director of the Ohio Funeral Directors Assn. for the past 16 years.
''I think it’s something funeral homes have always done,'' Gehlert said in discussing the services offered at the Monarch Center.
He said that funeral homes have always been involved in their communities and made sure that families received the proper care of getting through their grieving process.
Gehlert said it has only been in the last decade or so that funeral homes have established free-standing facilities such as the Monarch Center as community centers.
He said he sees more and more such facilities are being established by funeral homes all over the state.
''This is a beautiful facility. It’s very well done,'' Gehlert added.
The former Friendly’s Restaurant at 831 Boulevard, Dover, has just gotten a lot more user-friendly with a complete renovation that has transformed it into the Monarch Center.
Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes of Dover and Strasburg acquired the 2,600-square-foot structure in 1999. It reopened this month as a multi-functional facility with the flexibility of handling groups ranging from 10 to 200 people at any given time.
John Herzig, president of Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes, said he had envisioned for a number of years a facility where people could have a time of fellowship and dinner following funeral services or memorial services.
''Initially we had thought about putting the facility right near the funeral home and things just didn’t work out,'' he explained.
Richard Herzig, chairman of the board of Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes and the father of John, explained that parking was one issue. ''The other thing is we felt a lot of people would be more comfortable away from the funeral home,'' he said.
''The location, as far as a meeting facility, was centrally located in Tuscarawas County,'' pointed out Joyce Herzig, who is John’s wife.
Joyce, who will be coordinating the schedule of events for the Monarch Center with her sister, Jacque Halter, has been active in the project since its inception. She is also credited with the interior design and decorating ideas, which include a butterfly theme.
''We saw where the Friendly’s building had become available and we felt the location and size of the facility were what we were looking for,'' explained John Herzig.
''Initially we just wanted a place were families could come back to. Then, as we kind of got into it, we decided to open it up for more formal events and designed it with an audio-visual system that can be used by companies, businesses and organizations who want to have meetings and training seminars and also if businesses want to have meetings to introduce their products and things.''
Herzig said that the center will be dedicated in memory of his late mother, Marilyn Herzig, whom he said dedicated her life to the family-owned business. He said a photograph of his mother and a plaque will be placed in the center.
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