History

Established in Bridgeport in 1938 by Albert W. Spear and Helen T. Spear. Albert did not come from a funeral home family, but had the desire to serve those in need. He and Helen purchased property on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport and operated successfully for many years. In 1961, he purchased a small farmhouse on South Benson Road in Fairfield and converted it into a funeral home, opening the Fairfield facility in 1962 to better serve his growing number of families.

Albert and Helen had three children, A. Carleton, Jonathan and Susan. In 1969 Carleton joined his father in business and shortly thereafter, in 1971, Jonathan followed his brother into the business. Their brother-in-law, John E. Lebedevitch joined in 1974 allowing Albert to retire from the day-to-day operations. The Bridgeport funeral home was closed in the early 1980’s and the Fairfield branch became the main center of operations. Two major additions were completed soon after, making the building the largest funeral facility in Fairfield. The funeral home’s charming colonial design and interior were planned and executed by Albert’s wife Helen, a local artist and interior decorator.

In 1991 Richard Miller, a Fairfield native, joined the Spear family in the caring of others. Like Albert, Richard is a first generation funeral director. His sensitivity to the needs of families quickly led the Spear family to more fully incorporate Richard into the daily affairs of the funeral home. Following both Carleton and John Lebedevitch’s deaths, and with the blessing of Helen and Albert, Jonathan began planning for his retirement. In 2004 Jonathan and the Spear family transferred the ownership of the business to Richard with the comfort of knowing that all important continuity remained and that the future client families would be treated with the same high standard of care and comfort that Albert and his family provided since 1938. Today, Richard and staff are proud to carry on the Spear tradition.