Hardage - Giddens Greenlawn Funeral Home and Cemetery

Funeral services in Jacksonville

Over the years, the Hardage-Giddens business has grown to comprise 11 funeral homes in Florida's Duval and Clay counties—each one committed to delivering attention to detail and creative funeral solutions when families need them.

South of downtown Jacksonville, Hardage-Giddens Greenlawn Funeral Home was built at Greenlawn Cemetery in 2009. It exemplifies dignity and pride. It draws on the past while serving present-day needs. Our professional funeral home team pledges to guide you through one of the more personal and challenging stages of life with loving care.

Special ways to remember

At Hardage-Giddens, we believe a funeral or memorial should be as unique as the person it honors. We take great pride in creating personalized services that beautifully capture the essence of a life.

First, we help you find inspiration. Maybe it's in a favorite song or a hobby. It could be a trademark style or a lifelong passion. Everyone has something that has informed their life. We turn that inspiration into a truly unique service filled with thoughtful and meaningful details.

You may prefer a traditional funeral service in our chapel followed by a catered reception, or you may opt for direct cremation with a scattering in the Atlantic Ocean. Or perhaps the occasion calls for a no-holds-barred celebration, complete with live music, favorite foods, personal tributes and hand-selected mementos. Either way—or anywhere in between—you'll find that there's no limit to the special memorial we can create.

From guitars to golf, crab cakes to cupcakes, bird-shaped urns to blue marble monuments, we take the things that mattered to someone and string them together to create a singular, heartfelt service.

Greenlawn Cemetery

Greenlawn Cemetery comprises sweeping green lawns as far as the eye can see. Manicured hedges and rose bushes border the gardens, and large palm trees shade brick paths. The cemetery has a range of burial and memorial options, as well as a large veterans garden with the flags of all branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Everything you expect and more

Hardage-Giddens Greenlawn Funeral Home and Greenlawn Cemetery are both members of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers. When you choose the funeral home or cemetery, you get not only the warm, friendly service you expect from a locally operated establishment but also the value you deserve.

Please call for immediate assistance or if you would like more information about funeral, cremation or burial services.  

History

The history and tradition of Hardage-Giddens Funeral Homes began nearly 90 years ago and has touched thousands of Florida lives. The founding of Greenlawn Cemetery predates the Hardage-Giddens Funeral Home.

Pythian Cemetery becomes Greenlawn Cemetery

In 1918, the Dixie Pythian Lodge founded the Dixie Pythian Cemetery, named for Knights of Pythias. Established in 1864, Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal order to receive a charter under an act of the U.S. Congress and is dedicated to the cause of universal peace. At that time, members of the Dixie Pythian Lodge could purchase a 20-by-20-foot burial space in the cemetery.

In time, Dixie Pythian Cemetery fell into a state of neglect. A local funeral home owner purchased the cemetery from the Pythians and changed its name to Greenlawn Cemetery. Improvements made under the new ownership included the addition of a wall along the front of the property, a pond and the establishment of a fund to take care of the grounds, which was not a state requirement at the time.

Years later, Michigan native J. Howard Wendorph met the Greenlawn Cemetery owner. J. Howard became interested in buying Greenlawn Cemetery and sent his son, Vernon, to see the property. While there, Vernon visited door to door in the surrounding neighborhoods seeking opinions about Greenlawn and the area in general. Based upon his findings, the Wendorph family purchased Greenlawn Cemetery in 1949.

Today, Greenlawn Cemetery is a beautiful and well-maintained cemetery for everyone to visit and reflect on fond memories.

Hardage Funeral Homes takes hold

Meanwhile, in 1929, Hugh Hardage Sr. and Ralph Williams opened a mortuary in the Riverside area of Jacksonville. They called it Hardage & Williams Funeral Home. The company became Hardage & Sons when Ralph retired and 4 of Hugh’s sons (Hugh Jr., Robert, Gordon, Richard) became partners in the family business. Hugh Sr. died in 1964 and his sons continued operations.

Giddens gets its start

Elsewhere in Jacksonville, in 1932, T.J. Giddens and J.D. McEwen opened the first Giddens Funeral Home. T.J. operated the firm while J.D. was a silent partner and then sold his interest to T.J. about 3 years later. Ronald Giddens joined his father as a partner in the funeral home in 1947.

Hardage and Giddens come together

The firms of Hardage & Sons and Giddens-Griffith merged in 1972, though they operated separately under their respective names. Each continued to expand throughout Jacksonville. In the mid-'80s, the names were merged.

Now all of the funeral homes fall under the Hardage-Giddens Funeral Homes umbrella and all are members of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers.