About Us

The caring and experienced professionals at Pickering & Son Upton Funeral Home, Inc. are here to support you through this difficult time. We offer a range of personalized services to suit your family’s wishes and requirements. You can count on us to help you plan a personal, lasting tribute to your loved one. And we’ll carefully guide you through the many decisions that must be made during this challenging time.

You are welcome to call us at any time of the day, any day of the week, for immediate assistance. Or, visit our funeral home in person at your convenience. We also provide a wealth of information here on our web site so you can learn more from the privacy of your own home.

Our History

The longest continuously operating business in the community, Upton's only funeral home was established on September 15, 1902, by George Z. Williams in the Crispin Building on North Main Street. The first call for funeral services came in on October 14, 1902 and Mr. Williams, who was also the manager of the local telephone exchange, conducted funerals from the homes of the deceased.

Upon the death of George Z. Williams in 1918, the business was taken over by his brother, Fred E. Williams, who operated the business until his death in 1955. At that time his son, Sidney Williams, became the third member of the Williams family to serve the death-care needs of Upton and neighboring towns.

The family-owned business was operated as the Williams Funeral Home from a Pleasant Street location and was then moved to a home at 45 Main Street for greater visibility on the town's main thoroughfare. When changes in funeral customs resulted in a greater demand for services to be held from the funeral home, a separate 1,800 square-foot building was constructed in 1960 adjacent to the Williams residence.

Sidney Williams retired in 1979, selling the business and property to Kenneth M. Pedersen, Jr. and his wife, Diana. After continuing to operate as the Williams Funeral Home for a number of years, the name was eventually changed to the Williams-Pedersen Funeral Home.

In 1981, Ken located and purchased an authentic 1890 Cunningham horse-drawn hearse, similar to that shown on the logo of the original "George Z. Williams - Furnishing Undertaker" letterhead found in the business' historical records. The funeral home now offers the use of the horse-drawn hearse for those families requesting it and has incorporated the original logo in its present day letterhead and advertising.

The size of the funeral home was tripled in 1987 to 5,400 square feet in a major renovation which provided a spacious main chapel/viewing room and a product selection room to accommodate a large selection of caskets, cremation urns, and burial vaults. Subsequent improvements have included an expansion of the ample off-street parking lot and the construction of a large garage to house both modern and vintage livery equipment.

The old funeral home records give a glimpse into the history of Upton, offering a century of details about local funeral customs handwritten in the pages of several worn, leather-bound journals. The records chronicle the lives and deaths of young and old, with obituaries describing lives of workers in the West Upton hat factories, prominent careers in politics and education, tragic deaths caused by accidents, and lives lost in military service. Of particular note among the artifacts is a yellowing news clipping of the 1952 funeral of famed Broadway actress Gertrude Lawrence, who was buried by Sidney Williams in her husband's family plot in Lakeview Cemetery, overlooking Pratt Pond.

On January 2nd, 2018, Ken and Diana Pedersen retired, selling their business to David A. Pickering and his son, Andrew D. Pickering of the Westborough Funeral Homes. The Pedersen and Pickering families have worked together for many years. Ken will stay involved with the funeral home on a part time basis. The Pickerings plan to continue the same compassionate and dignified service that the town of Upton has become accustomed to.

On June 12, 2020, David and Andrew changed the name of the funeral home to Pickering & Son Upton Funeral Home, Inc.

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