History

Generations of Serving

Colonial-Wojciechowski Funeral Homes began in 1905 with the opening of Wojciechowski Brothers Funeral Home in the Craigan neighborhood of Chicago. As with many family businesses, owners Joseph A. Wojciechowski, Sr. and his brother John decided to expand and open a second location in the Bucktown neighborhood. Both areas of the city were central gathering points for the thousands of Polish immigrants seeking a new life in America. After several years, the Bucktown location moved around the corner to Webster Avenue where it remained until 1992. Joseph Sr. continued the business and eventually opened a new much larger location with his son Joseph Jr. on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago. After many years of dedicated service, the Craigan location was eventually closed. The new location on Milwaukee Avenue was a sign of the constantly changing city. The name was changed to Colonial Funeral Home to help broaden the variety of families we served. While the core of our business was still from the Polish Catholic community, Italians, Irish, Germans, Hispanic and other ethnic families were growing in numbers.

After the death of Joseph Jr., in 1985, Joseph D. and his brother Mark J., found themselves with a dilemma. The Milwaukee avenue location continued to grow and prosper, but the Bucktown location was caught in the gentrification movement of the early 1980's. The decision was made that families could be better served from a new location in the Northwest suburb of Niles. The new multi-million dollar facility would become the fulfillment of our dreams. On a huge piece of land, the new single story building would encompass everything that our family has learned over the years. We continue to serve families from our two locations in a manner that our parents and grandparents would be proud. The name of our funeral homes was changed in 1992 to Colonial-Wojciechowski Funeral Homes to remind us that, while we serve families of all nationalities and race, we can never forget the sacrifices and Polish heritage of our family.