Company History

We are a family owned, independent company who have been caring for our community for over 50 years. Our dedicated and compassionate team have over 350 years collective experience of supporting bereaved families by helping to arrange and create funerals that are meaningful, personal and which honour and pay tribute to their loved one. We currently arrange and conduct in the region of 1000 funerals each year throughout Teesside and the surrounding area.

We were established in 1971 by my late father Robert Crake (known as Bob) who was originally from East Rainton in Country Durham. My father began his career in the funeral profession in 1940 and moved to Stockton in 1956 as a Funeral Service Manager before founding our company in 1971. Originally called “Robert Crake Funeral Service” our first premises were in Skinner Street in Stockton and the “staff” consisted of just my father and mother, Dorothy.

In 1973, my father’s former colleague and close friend Joseph (Joe) Mallon, joined him and the company became known as Crake and Mallon Funeral Service. Both my father and Joe were well known and well respected throughout the community and the company steadily developed over the following years. My brother, also called Robert joined in 1974, I joined in 1979 closely followed by our brother-in-law James Ross who joined in 1981.

In December 1991, we moved into our current premises in Norton Road. These premises stand on the site of what was once the Wesleyan Chapel, founded in 1887 and which stood until the 1950’s. In subsequent years it had been numerous things including a car showroom, so an extensive refurbishment was needed. Our premises is now the base for our team of 26 staff, and includes extensive office space, 6 private Chapels of Rest, garaging for two fleets of vehicles, private arrangement rooms and extensive mortuary facilities.

The photograph on the left shows the Wesleyan Chapel, you can just see the gate posts (with the pointed tops) near the lamppost. This is now the exit from our car park – one of the original tops is still in place. On the right – a photograph of the Wesleyan Chapel, front view.

We continually review and update our facilities and our premises have undergone several refurbishments since 1991, as the company continues to grow.  We have always ensured that our premises reflect the very high standards we pride ourselves in, if you would like to visit or learn more about the facilities we have please get in touch.   

Sadly, my father and mother have now passed away (in 2001 and 2018 respectively), but we continue with their strong work ethic and an ongoing commitment to placing our compassion for our community at the heart of all we do.  Joe Mallon is a regular visitor to our offices as is my brother in law James Ross who is now retired, so whilst we move forward as the company continues to grow and develop, we also maintain our strong links to our past.  My brother Robert, although retired, still has an active part in the company and we were joined in 2016 by our niece Louise Ross (daughter of our sister Linda and brother in law James Ross).

My family and I are fiercely proud of our Company’s history and remain committed to supporting the bereaved families of Teesside by continually reviewing, broadening and developing the services that we provide.  As we entered our 50^th year, we commemorated our family and our history by launching new initiatives and services – all designed to support the people we meet.   This now includes additional complimentary services such as a funeral notice published both in the Evening Gazette and online, free of charge for families who arrange a traditional funeral with us, and 50 complimentary Order of Service booklets (printed by ourselves). You will be able to find further details within the pages on this website.

Myself, my family and all the team at Crake and Mallon are here to help – please do contact us if you would like to discuss any of the services we provide.  Our contact details are here.

Sincerely,