Duckett Funeral Home of J.S. Waterman & Sons

Our focus is you

With focus on compassionate service, our Sudbury funeral home staff warmly welcomes each family we serve. It's our goal to help you with your funeral and memorial services, and to deliver the quality and personal attention you expect from a local staff.

Our funeral specialists understand the impact of losing a loved one and know funeral planning may feel overwhelming. It's this knowledge that enables us to educate families on the planning process, including burial and cremation options, costs concerns, visitation hours and other important decisions. Working together, we'll help you pick the best options so you're secure with the details.

A service to remember

Each family we serve has the option to create a Life Well Celebrated® event, which honors loved ones in a special way. Our staff believes each funeral and memorial service should include personal details that showcase the individual and their passions and achievements. These types of services may include family traditions, favorite things to do, hobbies, catered events and themes that made your loved one stand out from the crowd.

We encourage families to share stories and memories, so we can design a service to remember. All of our services are tailored to be as traditional or contemporary as you wish, ensuring we honor your loved one while friends and families receive the comfort they need.

Drop by our funeral home

The staff at Duckett Funeral Home of J.S. Waterman & Son takes great pride in serving the Sudbury community. We hope you'll contact us to plan a burial or cremation service or to learn more about our plan-ahead options.

History

Duckett Funeral Home of J. S. Waterman & Sons has a rich history serving the Sudbury area with custom funeral and memorial services. Our dedicated staff has provided comfort to grieving families and friends for more than 40 years.

The early struggle

In the early 1970s, Sudbury, Massachusetts, was a small town with a country atmosphere located midpoint between Interstate 95 (Route 128) and what is now Interstate 495. The town did not have a funeral home. After attempting on various occasions to obtain approval from the town to open a funeral home in Sudbury, William R. Duckett had almost given up on the idea.

In early 1974, he found a 3-acre property with an old 30-foot-square farmhouse on the main road through the town, Route 20, not far from the well-known historical Wayside Inn. William again decided to submit an application to the town, and dates were set for the appropriate public hearings. It was at those hearings that the late Frank Grinnell, a prominent and well-regarded citizen stood up and addressed the crowd.

"Sudbury is a great town," Frank said. "One can be born here; one can be raised and educated here, marry, raise a family and work here. But you can’t die and have your funeral here!”

Frank went on to say that he had met William and wanted to see if he was able to establish a funeral home in Sudbury. Numerous other residents expressed their support, and the town granted permission to build its 1st funeral home.

History was made

In December, the funeral home started remodeling the building. It took almost 2 full years for William and several friends, working at night after their regular jobs and on weekends, to transform the old house into a 100-foot-long center-entrance Colonial building, keeping with the style of the earliest houses in Sudbury.

The 1st floor offered an entrance foyer, 2 chapel areas, a casket selection room, smoking room and an embalming room. The 2nd floor was made into living quarters for William's large family with a living-dining room, family room, kitchen, laundry and 5 bedrooms. Parking was also designed to accommodate 100 cars.

Serving the Sudbury community

Over the years, Duckett Funeral Home of J.S. Waterman & Sons has done additional remodeling, changing and enlarging their rooms and formal chapel for visitations and funeral services. We now seat up to 100 people, helping us ensure we meet the needs of our growing population.

Our services and facilities have always been for the benefit of the entire community as well as surrounding towns. In 1990, William joined forces with Jim and Jay Waring, further enhancing its funeral services. William and Sandra continue to serve the Sudbury community.