Our History

Our family serving your family since 1902

For nearly 125 years, families have trusted Daleiden Mortuary to provide compassionate, professional, and personalized funeral services for their loved ones. To us, funerals are a deeply personal matter, as five generations of the Daleiden family have dedicated their lives to bringing comfort to families during their most difficult moments.

Our funeral home was founded 1902 by Peter M. Daleiden, an immigrant from Luxembourg, and has remained family owned for over a century. We have been located in Aurora, Illinois since our founding, with our first location being on Lincoln Avenue, very close to Mount Olivet Cemetery, where our family is buried.

Founder, Peter M. Daleiden (1867 – 1940)

Portrait of Peter M. Daleiden

We later migrated to a building on High Street, where Peter M. worked with his two sons— George P. Daleiden and Theodore "Ted" M. Daleiden— before passing away in 1940. Sadly, Ted passed away at the age of 48 from a heart attack in 1955, leaving George to run the business on his own.

George P. Daleiden (1904 – 1976)

Ted M. Daleiden (1907 – 1955)

We continued to operate on High Street for many years. After George passed away, his son Peter became the third generation of Daleidens to own and operate the business.

Daleiden's High Street Mortuary, 1940's

 JoAnn & Peter Daleiden, 1993

It was long assumed that Peter would be the last generation to run the family business. When Peter's wife, JoAnn Daleiden, gave birth to their first daughter, Stephanie, he was very excited to tell his father "it's a girl!" Once he did, Peter was met with equal excitement. However, when Anastasia was born just thirteen months later, Peter revealed "it's another girl!" and was met with the response— "see you at work tomorrow, Pedro."

George's lack of enthusiasm did not stem from an arbitrary dislike for daughters, it was grounded in fear that there would not be an heir to the mortuary. At that time, less than 5% of businesses in the United States were owned by women, and it was certainly not expected that a daughter would take over a funeral home— part of an industry that was almost exclusively made up of men. 

Little did he know, both girls would eventually graduate mortuary science school in 1989 & 1990.

Stevie, Peter, and Anastasia Daleiden

Anastasia beside new Lake Street sign, 1994

In 1980, Daleidens bought the Corcoran Funeral Home on Lake Street, and began using it as a second location and additional option for families.

Corcoran Funeral Home, 1953

Front Patio, later taken out and replaced with an atrium.

The convenient location caused Lake Street to grow in popularity, and in March of 1991, we began renovations to improve the space and make the building more accessible with two large concrete ramps. Construction was completed in December 1993, and shortly thereafter we decided to make Lake Street our sole location.

Daleiden Mortuary pre-renovation, 1991

Daleiden Mortuary, 2020

In May of 2004, the Daleiden family donated the High Street building to St. Nicholas Church, where it was renamed the Daleiden Center and converted into housing for their priests and much-needed event space for the growing parish.

Daleiden Center, 2004

Daleiden Family at Building Dedication

Peter Daleiden never formally retired, and was frequently present at the mortuary until his passing in 2017. He granted equal ownership of the business to both his daughters, but in 2023, Stephanie Daleiden Dolan sold her shares of the business to her sister, Anastasia. She continued serving families as an independent contractor before fully retiring in 2025, after 36 years of dedicated service.

Since then, the mortuary has continued its legacy of compassionate care under the leadership of Anastasia Daleiden Yokosawa, providing a warm, home-like environment where families feel supported during life’s most difficult moments. As of 2026, the mortuary has also been proud to welcome Anastasia's daughter, Dominique Daleiden Yokosawa, as the fifth generation of the mortuary working as our Business Development & Strategic Projects Coordinator.

Anastasia Daleiden, 2023

Anastasia & Dominique, 2025