McDermott-Crockett & Associates Mortuary

McDermott-Crockett & Associates Mortuary is a funeral home in Santa Barbara, California. Established in 1906 by Charles Stephen McDermott and his wife, Hanora "Nora" Frances Hildegarde O'Leary, who relocated from Chicago to found the business as McDermott Funeral Home at 21 West Anapamu Street, it stands as Santa Barbara's oldest continuously operating funeral home. The mortuary serves families throughout Santa Barbara and the surrounding region with burial services, cremation services, funeral and memorial services, pre-need planning, reception and catered events, veterans services including military honors, ash scattering assistance, certified celebrant services, and memorial diamonds or human composting through partner providers.

The business has operated continuously since its founding. Thomas Joseph McDermott, born in Santa Barbara in 1915 and a graduate of the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science, carried the practice into its second generation alongside his wife Louise, who served as the mortuary organist. Following Thomas McDermott's death in September 1969, Richard Crockett assumed leadership of the firm, and in 1967 the business formally adopted the hyphenated name that remains in use today.

Over the course of its history, McDermott-Crockett has absorbed the historical funeral records of several earlier Santa Barbara providers, including L.E. Gagnier (records dating from 1911 to 1971), J.C. Hanna (1950 to 1969), and Eppel & Kurtz — records later donated to the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society — making the mortuary the institutional repository of much of Santa Barbara's documented funeral history. In 1974, the Central Coast Memorial Society, a regional non-profit chartered in 1962 to assist families with economical funeral arrangements, formalized an ongoing partnership contract with McDermott-Crockett to serve its regional membership, a relationship that reflects the mortuary's long-standing role in the broader Santa Barbara community.

The mortuary operates from a historic chapel at 2020 Chapala Street, a structure with its own significant Santa Barbara history. The chapel was originally designed and built in 1875 by architect Peter Barber for St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and originally stood at the corner of Micheltorena and Anacapa Streets. It survived the devastating 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake structurally intact. In 1932, the Seventh-day Adventist Church purchased the building and physically relocated it to its current site on Chapala Street. The chapel was designated an official City Landmark of Santa Barbara in 1982, recognized as a rare and well-preserved local example of Gothic Revival architecture.

McDermott-Crockett has operated from this location since 2010. The chapel's exterior features intricate redwood woodwork within steeply pitched gables, including decorative cross-bracing over the front entrance. The interior preserves original Gothic structural arches framing the main hall, which accommodates seating for approximately 175 people. The chapel's historic stained-glass windows produce a distinctive rose-colored illumination through the main hall during afternoon light. The facility also includes reception and event space suitable for catered gatherings, private viewing rooms, and identification viewing facilities.

The mortuary includes a Tahara room and shomer availability for Jewish families, as well as preparation areas equipped for ritual needs including incense burning and ritual washing. Spanish-language services are available on staff.

McDermott-Crockett & Associates Mortuary does not operate an on-site crematory or on-site cemetery, and does not offer pet cremation services.

Families consistently note staff flexibility and after-hours availability as distinguishing features of the experience, and reviews frequently recognize the quality of military honors coordination offered at this location.

Para assistance in Español, por favor marque este numero (805) 570-0247.