Our Story

Black-and-white portrait of a man in a suit and tie, facing the camera with a serious expression

In the early 1900's, licensed funeral director Charles Iredell founded the C.H. Iredell Funeral Home at 402 White Horse Pike in Haddon Heights. After Mr. Iredell passed away in 1968, in 1972 C.H. Iredell Funeral Home was purchased by Ronald Francesconi. Mr. Francesconi remodeled the funeral home by adding a large addition. He doubled the size of the funeral home and made many improvements. In 1992, one year before he passed away, Mr. Francesconi sold the funeral home to Leonard Terranova. Under Mr. Terranova, the home again underwent major renovations, including a large addition that made the funeral home fully handicapped-accessible. The home was also carefully decorated with the comfort of family and friends in mind. Today, Mr. Terranova's son, Leonard J. Terranova Jr., is the Manager of the home. It is our commitment to continue this tradition of providing families dignity, quality, and understanding service at an affordable price.


In 1918, Gaetano Perri founded the Perri Funeral Home at 11th and Federal Streets, in Philadelphia. In 1928, he moved the funeral home to its present location at the northwest corner of Broad and Wharton Streets. After Mr. Perri passed away in 1950, his son operated the funeral home until 1972. In 1972, Gaetano Perri's grandson Leonard J. Terranova (who had been working at the funeral home from the age of 16) became owner of the funeral home. Mr. Terranova's son, Leonard J. Terranova, Jr., had assisted his father since he was a child and is now a licensed funeral director. Today, the Terranova Funeral Home continues the family tradition - a tradition of dignity, quality, and understanding services at an affordable price, and a tradition that has remained strong through 4 generations and 100 years.


We were saddened to lose Leonard J. Terranova in the summer of 2004; we encourage you to share your thoughts in his Guest Book.

Newsletters

August 2018

Lying “in State” versus “in Honor” versus “in Repose”
By Len Terranova

With the recent death of Senator John McCain and the widespread media attention of his funeral services, many are wondering what is the difference between lying “in state,” “in honor,” and “in repose”?

Lying “in state” is when the body of someone who is a government official or military officer is present for a viewing in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building. 

Lying “in honor” is when the body of someone who is not a government official or a military officer is present for a viewing in the Rotunda.

Lying “in repose” is when anyone, i.e., a government official, military officer, or anyone else’s body is present for a viewing in a location other than the Rotunda.

For someone to lie “in state” or “in honor” is a very rare occasion. Senator John McCain is only the 31st person to lie “in state” in our country’s history. There have been only four people to lie “in honor.” They are civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Rev. Billy Graham, and two Capitol police officers killed in the line of duty.

There are funerals where someone lies “in repose” and then “in state,” and others who only lie “in repose.” For example, President Ronald W. Reagan’s body was held “in repose” at the Reagan Library in California and then “in state” at the Capitol, a few days later. Both Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist’s family and Associate Justice Antonin Scalia’s family chose not to have them lie “in state.” Both bodies lay “in repose” in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court.

Now you know more than you ever wanted to know about the differences between lying “in state,” “in honor” and “in repose.”