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December 3, 2021 Corner Office

Entrepreneur Howard Hill wants to diversify his funeral home client base

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Howard K. Hill
By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich

Since 2004, Howard K. Hill has been helping grieving families heal, ensuring the final arrangements for their departed loved ones are handled with care and compassion.

Hill, 53, is owner of Howard K. Hill Funeral Services, a family-owned business with 43 employees and locations in New Haven, Hartford and Bloomfield.

Before Hill became a successful funeral home owner, and the first Black man to serve two terms as board chair of the 132-year-old Connecticut Funeral Directors Association, he learned to hone his craft from his uncle, Manuel E. Faust.

Faust owned a funeral home in Brooklyn, N.Y., and it was there that Hill, just out of high school in the late 1980s, became interested in the science behind embalming. As an apprentice for his uncle, Hill perfected the technique and later earned his Mortuary Science degree from the American Academy McAllister Institute of New York.

He landed his first job as a funeral director at the Keyes Funeral Home in New Haven, and worked there for several years before branching out on his own.

In 2004, he came across an opportunity to lease space in the former Clarke Bell & Bell Funeral Home in New Haven; a year later he purchased the building.

Hill said he was aware of several Black funeral directors who were getting older and didn’t have children who could take over the business. He said he wanted to ensure that Black communities had a place to go to preserve their loved one's legacy.

“Ownership means something and there’s a sense of pride having a successful Black owner in the business community,” Hill said.

Inclusion & diversity

In 2012, Hill expanded the business by acquiring a second funeral home in Hartford, and again in 2015, an opportunity arose to acquire a third funeral home in Bloomfield.

While Hill said it was never his goal to own numerous funeral homes, when opportunities presented themselves, he went for it.

As far as future expansion plans, Hill simply said “stay tuned.” He declined to disclose his company’s annual revenues.

While Hill has found success in his endeavors, his goal to be the first Black funeral home owner to consistently serve diverse groups has fallen short. And that’s something he’s working hard to change.

“Through no choice of my own, in my 18th year in business, my three multi-award winning and nationally-recognized funeral businesses are still overwhelmingly segregated with Black majority clientele,” Hill said. “I can count on two hands how many white clients we have served. I am striving for true inclusion and diversity.”

Hill said he hopes to spread his message of inclusion through his new role as board chairman of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

“I see the Chamber as a great entity to help push for more inclusive growth,” Hill said. “My vision is to realize a significant dollar investment into my community and the whole of the New Haven business community. Creating, developing and expanding the Black business base must be constant, consistent and significant for a healthier business climate and to level the playing field.”

Hill’s active in the community in other ways.

The father of three is founder of the nonprofits, The Prosperity Foundation and The Black Business Alliance of Connecticut, which shine a light on Black-owned businesses and initiatives for Black advancement.

Orsella Hughes, Hill’s administrative manager and executive director of The Prosperity Foundation, said Hill’s can-do attitude has helped the foundation raise more than $400,000 to help families pay for funerals and to support numerous nonprofits.

“I consider Howard Hill an iconic entrepreneur in the city of New Haven who gives his absolute all to his community,” said Hughes. “Every business idea he has created has been for the direct benefit of the community. For every achievement he obtains, he continues to reach back to bring someone else along. He truly lives by the saying from South Africa, ‘Ubuntu,’ which translates, ‘I am because you are.’ ”

Since 2011, Hill’s business has been annually recognized by the National Funeral Directors Association “Pursuit of Excellence” program for continually raising the bar on service.

Maintaining a high standard of care has never been more important, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which Hill said caused a spike in business upwards of 40 percent.

When large gatherings were restricted to 10 or fewer people, Hill turned to streaming funeral services online. He also made a significant investment to gut each facility’s bathrooms and install a germ-killing UV light system and hand-sanitizing stations. He ramped up on technology, hiring an IT professional, so planning funeral services — including selecting a casket, flowers and even ceremony music — can all be done online.

A muscle and classic car enthusiast, Hill said he enjoys traveling with his wife Nancy and children.

“This is the reason I work tirelessly, to create experiences and memories for and with my family,” Hill said. “This is what matters most.”

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