A familiar name on East Tremont Avenue for almost 50 years is gone.
Victor Quirolo and Sons Funeral Home, which was located at 3176 E. Tremont Avenue, closed its location in the Bronx in the fall, when it sold its Waterbury-LaSalle property.
However it plans to continue providing its services at other locations.
“We are in the Bronx all of the time,” said Gabriella Lequerique, Victor Quirolo and Sons president and owner “We still have a lot of customers there that have pre-arrangements.”
Arrangements have been made to use local chapels to provide for their patron’s needs, she said.
Some families who have used Quirolo facilities have done so for at least a century.
The funeral home is currently operating in Peekskill, NY. It had been in the borough since 1971 when it relocated from East Harlem, she said.
It was founded in the late 19th century by Lequerique’s great grandfather Victor Quirolo, who immigrated from the town of Chiavari in northern Italy.
For many years he ran the funeral home with his wife, Giuseppina Guida Quirolo, who was the heart and soul of the facility, according to a company profile.
Later on, after establishing himself as a boxer, one of their sons, Eddie ‘Guida’ Quirolo took over the business, which was mentioned in an article about Eddie’s boxing career in The Ring magazine in 1929.
The company is now in its fourth generation of family ownership.
At one time there were two Quirolo-named funeral homes in the area, separated by about eight blocks. The other business was named Louis Quirolo Funeral Home at 3602 E. Tremont Avenue.
Both facilities started in East Harlem and the families were related. Louis Quirolo opened in the early 60s, but closed in 2004.
After the building that housed Victor Quirolo Funeral Home was sold, it sat vacant for a short period.
Recently work commenced at the property to construct a large laundromat. Signs on the property’s parking lot fence announce the coming of a 140-machine emporium .
The operator of the laundromat wasn’t available for comment as of press time.
