09282023 PLATT

Platt Memorial Chapels has long been a fixture at the intersection of Evesham and Haddonfield-Berlin roads in Cherry Hill. 

Plaques and framed memorabilia fill a wall of Platt Memorial Chapels. If you look long enough, you will find the one from a group of medical professionals thanking the Platt family for being helpful and there for them in a time of need.

Those words could be the mantra of the business, said Harry Platt, vice president, manager and one of the licensed funeral directors. He also was a former Voorhees mayor and now is the Voorhees Township supervisor.

Plat recalled that he began working at the business when he was 5 years old and never imagined himself doing anything else for a full-time career.

But his father, Bernie Platt, president of the business and former Cherry Hill mayor, had a much different journey into the funeral industry.

Bernie, who grew up on a farm, wanted to be a veterinarian, but his parents told him they could not afford to send him to veterinary school, Harry told 70and73.com.

A short time later, "two Quaker ladies from West Chester were visiting his mom having tea and they said 'Bernard, we think (you would) make a fine mortician,'" Harry said.

Soon after, Bernie, who received his higher education at Temple University and Eckeles College of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia, began his career as a funeral director in Pennsylvania, Harry said.

About two decades later, he completed an internship at a funeral home down the street from Platt Memorial Chapels’ location on Haddonfield-Berlin Road, a necessary step to obtaining a funeral director's license in New Jersey, and then opened Platt Memorial Chapels in 1977, Harry said.

It's an extended-family business: Allison Platt and Jacob Platt work at the business and are also licensed to make funeral arrangements. Rena Platt-Goldstein, Bernie's daughter, serves as the administrative director. Another member of the extended Platt family, Joshua Goldstein, is a registered intern and a few exams away from becoming a fully licensed funeral director. And there also is therapy dog Kodi Platt, available for those who feel they would benefit from having a sympathetic canine during a memorial, according to the Platt website.

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While South Jersey has a plethora of funeral homes and chapels, there are a few characteristics that make Platt Memorial Chapels stand out from most of the rest, according to Harry.

For example, his business can accommodate guests of up to 750 people, making it one of the largest in South Jersey. Bernie's long funeral planning career on both sides of the Delaware River has helped him and his co-workers to arrange the most logistically challenging of funerals, Harry explained.

"We got a call at 7 at night," he recalled. “The family wanted to send the person to Israel for burial the very next day. That involved securing burial permits and getting both airlines and the religious group in Israel involved.

"By 1 the next afternoon, the body was on a plane to Israel and they had a funeral service here in the chapel before we took the body to the airport," Harry said.

PLATT 1

Harry Platt at work at Platt Memorial Chapels in Cherry Hill.

Over the 46 years that Platt Memorial Chapels has operated, there has been a shift in the types of services, he said. They include the increase in the number of cremations, the decrease in the number of religious-affiliated services playing a role in the funeral and the increase in "green" funerals in which the deceased is buried in a wood coffin without embalming, Harry explained.

And, as technology has advanced, many funeral services are livestreamed for those who cannot show up at the service. The Platt website home page lists the funeral schedule, with livestream links, as well as recent funerals with archived video so friends and family can watch services they missed.

One thing he said he never anticipates changing is encouraging potential clients and their families to pre-plan funerals. Doing so can lock in prices that may be easier to handle than if the family waits, he said.

A time may come when Platt Memorial Chapels expands its Cherry Hill location or perhaps moves to a new location, Harry said.

"We have to look…to see where the population we serve is going. Right now, I am not sure where that where that will be," he added.

Platt Memorial Chapels is at 2001 Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Cherry Hill. The business is available for hosting memorials 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its website is www.plattmemorial.com.

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