Our chapel

We have a beautiful chapel known for its historic charm. The spacious chapel seats 275 people and has a distinctly homey, traditional feel with antique furnishings. The large brass chandeliers give a warm, well lit atmosphere. The chapel is nondenominational, but we are able to decorate and customize the space with religious artifacts if requested. We have traditional set pews for comfortable seating. There is also a large monitor that can come down from the ceiling to display a picture slideshow during memorial services.

The building

Heights Funeral Home is large in size with 12,000 square feet. Before you even enter the building, you’ll be greeted by large oak trees lining scenic Heights Boulevard. Our large parking lot is especially accommodating for services with a large number of people.

Guests are greeted by a traditional foyer when you enter the building, complete with antique furnishings. We have 2 large staterooms used for visitations and smaller, more intimate funeral services. The Waltrip Room is named after our founder, and is a distinctly comfortable space that has the inviting feel of a living room.

Customized services and celebrations of life

We are experienced in conducting traditional services, yet we also are able to help personalize funerals in a variety of ways to each unique life. It can be as simple as creating a DVD slideshow with pictures of your loved one, or even selecting small mementos, such as personalized golf tees, for people to take with them after the ceremony. We encourage family members and friends to participate in the funeral or memorial service. Our staff can help you find various ways for loved ones to contribute to the ceremony. Often times, we also have families bring in physical items that remind them of their loved one and good memories.

Heights Funeral Home also offers celebration of life ceremonies. For celebrations of life, we will meet with your family to uncover what made this person unique and what sparked their life’s passions. Then, we’ll design a celebration around that life force. These ceremonies are different for each life. For one motorcyclist, we arranged for their bike to be displayed inside the chapel. For a soccer enthusiast, we conducted their service at a soccer field under a goal. If you might be interested in a celebration of life ceremony, we’d love to discuss what’s possible with you.

We honor veterans

At Heights Funeral Home, we understand the unique needs of America’s veterans and their families. As a Level One Founding Community Partner with We Honor Veterans, our staff is knowledgeable in the benefits available to veterans and their families. With respect, integrity and dignity, we will walk you through the steps of creating a veteran's memorial service that truly honors the life and sacrifice of your loved one.

History

Heights Funeral Home was established in 1926. From modest beginnings, Heights Funeral Home has grown to become one of the most respected funeral homes in Houston, serving hundreds of families every year.

Robert L. Waltrip

We’ve been a proud member of Houston since 1926. When Robert E. Waltrip passed away in 1951, his son Robert L. Waltrip took over the Heights Funeral Home. This was the beginning of a career that has reached the highest levels of business.

In the 1960s, Robert L. Waltrip continued to serve families out of Heights Funeral Home while purchasing additional funeral homes. Mr. Waltrip relied on his business acumen and applied the “cluster” strategy of sharing pooled resources among the numerous locations. This approach allowed Mr. Waltrip to achieve significant cost efficiencies, provide additional grief and financial support services to our families and establish Service Corporation International (SCI).

Mr. Waltrip took SCI public in 1969. He had grown the network of funeral, cremation and burial providers to more than 2,000 locations by 2014. Today, SCI is the largest network of funeral homes, crematoriums and cemeteries in North America priding itself on helping every family with compassion and care.

Robert L. Waltrip has provided invaluable leadership for more than 50 years. Mr. Waltrip continues to guide the company as Chairman Emeritus and says he has no plans to retire.

The Waltrip family

Our funeral home embodies the spirit of caring and dedication that comes from our founding family, the Waltrips. In 1926, Mrs. S.P. Waltrip and her son, Robert. E. Waltrip, purchased the home at 1317 Heights Blvd. The mother-son pair were so dedicated to serving their community, they chose to live on the second floor while the first floor was used to provide funeral services to the neighborhood.

After the untimely death of Robert E. Waltrip in 1951, his son, Robert L. Waltrip, continued the family tradition of serving client families with care, compassion and dignity. Heights Funeral Home would later became the birthplace of Service Corporation International, headquartered in Houston. Under the guidance of Robert L. Waltrip, Service Corporation International has become the largest network of funeral home, cemetery and cremation providers in North America.

Community involvement

We are proud to be a part of the Heights and Houston community. Heights Funeral Home recognizes its role in making a positive impact within our community. Over the years, we have found ways to support charitable organizations through donations, fundraising and volunteering.

We partner with LIFT Support Group to provide a monthly lunch for widows and widowers. This support group allows people to come together and support each other through the ups and downs. We’re also involved in Bo’s Place, which is a grief support group for younger people who have experienced the death of a sibling.

Our staff is active in diabetes awareness programs, including the Tour de Cure cycling event. We help raise money for the event and support the cyclists raising awareness.

We are an active member of the Heights Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus, Chamber of Commerce and the Heights Civic Association. We’ve partnered with the local rotary to conduct a used book sale to raise money for the nearby library.

We’re happy to lend our space for other organizations to hold their meetings or events. If your organization might need space or you think we could help your cause, please feel free to contact us to see how Heights Funeral Home can help.

The Houston Heights

Since 1926, we’ve been here for all the changes in the Heights, including the recent revitalization of the neighborhood. Our staff is dedicated to the community, through the good and the bad. Our 2 funeral home directors were born and raised in Houston and each have more than 10 years experience as licensed funeral directors. Because of our own roots here, we are even more dedicated to providing incredible and caring service to our Houston families.

The funeral home itself is surrounded by residences. Our building has a distinctly home-like atmosphere with a traditional wood chapel. When you come to the Heights Funeral Home, you’ll be treated like one of us, because you are.

Renovations over the years

Our building was originally a 2-story house. In 1926, we started the funeral home and, shortly after, we added a small chapel for funeral services. In accordance with the times, we also offered an ambulance service to our community, but with modern changes in the medical field that portion of the business was phased out. In the late 1940s, we added more offices, a casket room and updated staterooms to serve Houston families better. We also constructed our traditional, welcoming foyer that you now see today.

We built a larger chapel over the original chapel. Our current chapel is known for its traditional appeal and spacious feel with a seating capacity of roughly 275 people. In the 1970s, we added more staterooms to the back right area of the building, which can be used for visitations or more intimate funeral services.

Improvements to our facilities and services never stop, however. We frequently update the funeral home and always lead the way in both substance and style.