Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A new affordable cremation service is being offered in Livingston County.

Todd Borek and Karl Jennings own and operate Borek Jennings Funeral Homes. It’s longtime location in downtown Howell was closed and moved to a new facility off M-59. The downtown location was subsequently closed.

Throughout their time in the community, the pair have heard various accounts of families having to leave Livingston County to find affordable cremation services but also frustration with services and dealing with some outside companies. Thus, the pair launched Livingston Cremation and Funeral Care in the old downtown location to provide more attentive and affordable service to local families and individuals.

Jennings tells WHMI they’re very excited with how received the new location has been, noting it’s the first new funeral home in the Howell area in decades. He says it’s much more spacious with ample parking and is ADA-compliant and they’re really pleased with how the community is responding.

Jennings said they knew they would eventually repurpose the old building but wanted to get the new facility going first. In April, they opened the new Livingston Cremation and Funeral Care.

Jennings said they collectively have nearly 70-years of experience in serving Livingston County and knew there was a segment of the community that had to seek services elsewhere because they didn’t feel a service was available that was designed for the choices they were making. He noted they were hearing over and over from a number of families having to leave the county to access what they considered more affordable but limited cremation services.

Jennings said many people today that choose cremation also opt for some sort of public service or public visitation with it. However, he said there are also clients looking for direct cremation with no services that don’t want a traditional, full-service funeral home. During their research, Jennings said they determined around 250 families a year were having to leave the county to find the affordable cremation services they were looking for.

Jennings says they felt they could do both with their more full-service location on M-59 and repurpose their older facility to provide those kind of limited cremation services. Jennings says the response has been surprising and also well-received, and he feels people appreciate being able to stay local.

The name was selected to avoid any confusion between the existing funeral home location and the other cremation business.

Jennings also stressed the importance of pre-planning, noting the instinct amongst baby boomers through the generations has been to “live in the moment” and not prepare a plan for the future and expenses. He says they encourage people to think about getting plans in place because someone will make those decisions for them someday and they generally do it today without guidance from those who are gone.

Jennings said they often use the phrase “get to know us before you need us” because they can help guide people through some tough decisions that will align with a family’s values and needs in a way he thinks they’ll find meaningful at their time of loss.

The full interview with Jennings can be heard this Sunday morning on WHMI’s Viewpoint program at 8:30am.