A meaningful legacy

A stately and peaceful place to honor those who have passed, Orlando-Donsante-Previte Funeral Home has served local families in their times of grief since 1954.

“I’m old school when it comes to funerals,” says Owner Anthony Previte. “You only get one chance to have a meaningful service. This is a life event, like baptism, First Holy Communion or graduation, where there are no do-overs. You want your family and friends to make sense of their grief, celebrate your life, and ultimately be at peace and find closure.”

Spacious parlors are accented in warm wood paneling, beautiful paintings and antiques, like you stepped into a gracious estate home.

A Meaningful Gift to Your Children 

Anthony explains the people he works with to prearrange their last wishes feel peace of mind afterward.

“I understand no one wants to dwell on their passing, but when you sit down and make all the decisions and selections now, it takes the burden away from your children and loved ones. It’s like a gift,” he says.

“Funerals are for the living. I’ve worked so many funerals where the children had no idea what their parents would want and that became stressful and divisive.”

Another plus to preplanning is that you lock into today’s pricing.

“We cover every aspect of funeral and burial,” he says. “The client picks out a casket or urn depending on if they choose to be buried or cremated. And we go as far as planning their calling hours, service arrangements, the flowers, keepsake items and headstones. If he or she is a veteran, we make sure they receive an honor guard. We also produce video memorials celebrating the decedent’s life to play at calling hours.”

A Legacy of Family 

Anthony, who started in the business when he was 16 and then went to mortuary school, believes in honoring family and paying tribute to the past. When he bought into the funeral home in 2018, it was important to him to keep the names of the owners before him.

“We were one of the first in Lake County, founded by Louis Orlando,” he says. “He built this place from the ground up to be a funeral home. When he passed unexpectedly in 1978, his nephews, Bruce Orlando and Anthony Donsante, were young and newly licensed and managed the responsibilities. In 2018, when no other family members had the aspirations to join the business, they asked if I wanted to purchase it. And I did.”

It was an exciting time for Anthony as he also was married in 2017, then found out his wife Celeste was expecting in 2018.

Today, he honors his cultural roots by acting as vice president of the Wickliffe Italian American Club, and belongs to the Club Molisani in town, where his favorite pastime is bocce.

“It seems like culture is cool again,” he says. “I still remember my family sitting around the table together and my great-grandmothers speaking in their broken English and hoping for us all to assimilate and have a better life.”

For him, owning the home is as much a vocation as it is his career. People appreciate that when a loved one passes, he will personally come to their home 24/7 to be there for them.

“I think back to the era when everything a family ate was made from scratch at home, where traditions and values were passed on to the next generation,” says Anthony. “And I like to think that’s what we do here … preserve time-honored ways of finding and appreciating the meaning in a life. I’m not looking to emphasize quantity but rather quality in how we do business.”

Orlando-Donsante-Previte Funeral Home is located at 29550 Euclid Avenue in Wickliffe. Visit OrlandoDonsantefh.com for more information or call 440-943-2466.