Published: November 07, 2009 10:36 pm      

Changing hands: Local native purchases funeral home in Portage

PORTAGE — Dennis Beck has been helping people through the process of grieving lost loved ones for more than 25 years.

Now he is stepping aside and has sold the Beck Funeral Home to Matthew Decort, a Portage native who hopes to carry on longstanding traditions of service set by the Beck family.

Beck, 61, plans to stay in the Portage area.

“We started talking about this more than a year ago,” Beck said. “I’m still helping out with the business some, but I think he’ll be fine.”

Beck said the business was started by his father, Clifford Beck, in 1938 at a location on Mountain Avenue.

In 1946, the funeral home was relocated to its present location at 532 Main St. Dennis Beck took over from his father in 1983.

The funeral business is in Decort’s blood as well. His great-grandfather, Izidor Serenko, was a funeral director for many years.

“I actually got interested in it through my grandmother,” Decort said. “Funeral directing is something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Decort said he was seeking the opportunity to become a funeral director in a small town.

“When someone comes into the funeral home, I want them to feel like a name and not just a number,” he said.

Decort is a 2002 graduate of Portage Area High School and a graduate of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science.

He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Point Park University in Pittsburgh.

As part of his training, Decort has done internships at funeral homes in the Portage area. He also has worked in cemetery sales.

With the purchase deal completed, Decort has started making changes. He said he has plans to update the interior and exterior of the business.

A sign tells the public that the business now is called Matthew R. Decort Funeral Home & Cremation Services Inc.

Decort, son of longtime Portage District Judge Galen Decort and nephew of former Portage Township supervisor James Decort, said the funeral business is about developing relationships with families, something he hopes to do.

The purchase price for the business was not disclosed, although real estate records show a Portage Borough transaction from Beck to Decort for $78,050.

The other funeral homes in Portage are Mark A. Serenko Funeral Home in the 800 block of Main Street and the Jean H. Kinley Funeral Home in the 600 block of Cambria Street.