Northville Funeral Home Gets New Owners

Northrop-Sassaman Funeral Home has been at the intersection of Northville and Seven Mile roads since 1910.

The funeral home now has new owners -- husband-and-wife team Dave and Karen Deighton (pronounced DIE-ton). 

Deighton and his wife promise to be a helpful resource for Northville families who have lost a family member or for those looking to plan ahead for their funeral services.

"If you have a question, just ask and I'll answer it," he said.

He said sometimes people don't understand the value of having a funeral service until after they've chosen not to have one. 

"We have a need to share and to talk about what's happened," he said.

He said families who don't have funeral services will often get stopped by people for several months asking about what happened and how the person died. No one wants to relive that again and again, he said, so a funeral service allows the community to get closure at the same time.

The Deightons owned a funeral home in Fenton before taking over this one in December after the previous owner, John Sassaman, became ill.

But for Karen Deighton, working in Northville is returning home. She grew up in the city, going to high school here and her parents are still Northville residents.

As a part of the community, they know that the people of Northville have valued Northrop-Sassaman's services for years, so they aren't making too many changes to the funeral home. For example, they kept all of the same employees.

"It makes people a little more comfortable to know someone," Deighton said.

He said people are welcome to stop in with any of their questions or to just say hello.