History & Staff
We have years of experience caring for families, from all walks of life. Each family comes to us because they know we are leaders in our profession, dedicated to excellence in service, and have the highest integrity.
When we sit down with a family, we have just one goal: to create a fitting, memorable and affordable service for their loved one. Together, we explore the wide variety of services and products available, as well as a wealth of creative ideas and suggestions.
Together, we'll design a memorial or funeral service that suits their needs now, and in the future. Families who come to us know that years from now, they will have deep peace-of-mind because in coming to us, they've done their best to honor their loved one.
Our History
Sunset Memorial Park was formally dedicated 74 years ago on Sunday, September 16th, 1934 by Mr. A. H. Bruning of Joliet, IL. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Van Camp purchased Sunset Memorial Park in the late 1940’s. Mr. Van Camp was the cemetery superintendent for Mr. Bruning. The Darby Family, Charles and Florence Darby along with their two sons, James and David acquired Sunset Memorial Park in 1960. Sunset Funeral Home located in Danville, IL was opened by the Darby's in December of 1984.Sunset became one of the first funeral home/cemetery combinations in the state of Illinois.
Due to the level of service and care that Sunset provided to it's families, other local funeral home's contacted the Darby Family to purchase their businesses upon their retirement. In 1994, the Darby Family acquired Houghton-Leasure Funeral Home in Georgetown, Illinois. In 2004, a new building was erected in Westville Illinois, now called Sunset-Urbas Funeral Chapel of Westville. In 2006, Sunset acquired a facility in Oakwood, Illinois, Sunset's Oakwood Chapel, and also erected a new facility in Covington, Indiana, now named Sunset's Covington Chapel. Sunset Funeral Homes currently offers the families of East Central Illinois and West Central Indiana a choice of five funeral homes, a cemetery, a crematory, as well as Executive Plaza banquet facility. Now, the third generation of the Darby family currently owns Sunset and its entities. Owners: Rich Darby-COO Donna Darby-Walthall-CFO Linda Darby-Sempsrott-CEO.
Our Valued Staff
Rich Darby, Chief Operations Officer
Rich has been at Sunset Funeral Home for 27 years. Rich has three boys and is currently living in Danville, Illinois with his wife Jill. Rich can be found spending time with his family, watching NASCAR Racing, football, fishing, boating, and traveling.
Linda Darby-Sempsrott, Chief Executive Officer
Linda has over 28 years at Sunset Funeral Home. She and her husband, Bill live in Danville, Illinois, where she can be found spending time with her grandchildren, horseback riding, and spending time outdoors.
Donna Darby-Walthall, Chief Financial Officer
Donna has been a part of the scene here at Sunset Funeral Home for 35 years. She and her husband, Jim live in Danville, Illinois. Her hobbies include laying out by the pool, collecting miniature shoes, she is an avid University of Illinois football and basketball fan and an Indianapolis Colts fan she also enjoys spending time with her family.
Jill Darby, Care Coordinator
Jill started at Sunset Funeral Home in February of 2010. She and her husband, Rich live in Danville, IL. Jill enjoys spending time with her family and friends, watching basketball or reality tv, hanging out by the pool, beach or lake, movies and finding new places to dine.
Lindsey Walthall-Murphy, Graphics/Life Celebration Coordinator
Lindsey has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 2 years and represents the fourth generation of the Darby family to work in funeral service. She and her husband, Jason live in Danville, Illinois, where she can be found shopping, watching/playing sports, spending time with her husband and beagles, Bailey and Max.
Jason Murphy, Director of Family Services
Jason has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 2 years. He and his wife, Lindsey live in Danville, Illinois, where he can be found either playing or watching sports; spending time outdoors and spending time with his wife and beagles, Bailey and Max.
Ross Darby, Funeral Director's Assistant
Ross joined the Sunset team in November of 2011, and represents the fourth generation of the Darby family to work in funeral service. He currently lives in Danville, Illinois. During his off hours he enjoys sports, outdoor activities, and spending time with family and friends.
Drew Edwards, General Manager
Drew has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 18 years. He, his wife Mandi, and their three sons reside in Cayuga, Indiana. When he's not working, Drew enjoys hunting, fishing, golf, basketball and anything to do with the outdoors.
Tammy Hopper, Funeral Service Advisor
Tammy has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 18 years. She and her husband, Shane along with her children reside in Danville, Illinois, where she can be found scrapbooking, doing crafts and spending time with her family, and their animal companions.
Mike Weidenburner, Family Service Advisor
Mike joined the Sunset team in January of 2012. He currently lives in Danville, Illinois and is originally from Danville, Illinois. He has one daughter, Ashley Weidenburner. During his off hours he enjoys baseball, basketball, football and is also a St. Louis Cardinals and Green Bay Packers fan.
Vicki Crawford, Legacy Advisor
Vicki has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 5 years. She and her husband, Mark live in Danville, Illinois. When not working, she loves to vacation with her two daughters and husband in Door County, Wisconsin.
Catlin Crozier, Legacy Advisor
Catlin joined the Sunset team in December of 2011. He currently lives in Danville, Illinois and is originally from Hoopeston, Illinois. During his off hours he enjoys playing softball, hunting and fishing.
Ami Mann, Administrative Assistant
Ami has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 18 years. She has two children, and resides in Hoopeston, Illinois. In her time away from the office, she enjoys spending time with the children, friends, and family. She also enjoys watching movies and TV, and reading.
Jennifer Clark, Administrative Assistant
Jennifer has been at Sunset Funeral Home for 8 years. She, her husband, Miles live in Danville, Illinois. Her pastimes including spending time with their daughter and grandson, or with friends. She also enjoys working with her church.
Francine Dowers, Director of Bereavement Support & Community Education
Francine has been with Sunset Funeral Home for over 9 years. She and her husband, Richard live in Westville, Illinois. In her time away from the office, she enjoys hiking, painting and reading.
Jessica Clifford, Graphics Coordinator
Jessica joined the Sunset team in December 2011. She currently reside in Westville, Illinois and is from Westville, Illinois. On her off time she enjoys spending time with long time boyfriend, Adam Krankavitch, four wheeling, fishing, playing slow pitch softball, scrapbooking, crafts and photography. She also enjoys spending time with her family, friends and two dogs, Rowdy & Willow.
Cathy Christian, Administrative Assistant
Cathy has been with Sunset Funeral Home for over 8 years. She, her husband, Jeremiah and their two children live in Georgetown, Illinois. When she's not working, she enjoys being outdoors and working around the house and loves spending time with her family.
Matt Blurton, Licensed Funeral Director
Matt has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 6 years. He, and his wife, Jennifer along with their three children live in Danville, Illinois. When he's not working, he enjoys coaching youth football for the Danville Saints. He is a member of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, the Bismarck Community Fire Protection District and an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan.
Ken Miller, Licensed Funeral Director
Ken has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 18 years. He and his wife, Barb live in Danville, Illinois. He is a member of Second Church of Christ, and enjoys camping and riding motorcycles.
Jeff Stal, Licensed Funeral Director
Jeff has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 12 years. He and his wife, Valerie and their three children reside in Georgetown, Illinois. He loves to watch or play sports of all kinds, and spending time with his family.
Greg Grub, Licensed Funeral Director
Greg has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 8 years. He and his wife, Sally live in Hoopeston, Illinois.
Brad Tucker, Licensed Funeral Director
Brad has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 3 years. He, his wife, Alicia and their son live in Covington, Indiana. His hobbies include watching Cardinals baseball, TV and movies (especially Star Wars), reading, and spending time with his family.
Justin Levingston, Licensed Funeral Director
Justin just joined the staff at Sunset Funeral Home in July of 2011. He graduated from Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, IL in 2010 with his associates in applied science-mortuary science. His hobbies include sports, boating, spending time with his English Bulldog, Oakley, hunting and fishing. Justin is also an avid Cardinals and Chicago Bears Fan.
Lynn Lewis, Cemetery Operations
Lynn has been with Sunset Funeral Home for over 5 years. She is married with three children, and resides with her husband, Mike in Collison, Illinois. In her spare hours, she enjoys reading, camping, and traveling.
Mary Stonecipher, Horticulturist
Mary has been with Sunset Memorial Park for 16 years. She and her husband, Ron currently reside in Bismarck, Illinois with their two daughters. She can be found spending time with her family, gardening, or out for a Sunday drive in their Model T. Mary is also a University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener.
Lois Sutton, Horticulturist
Lois has been with Sunset Memorial Park for 7 years. She has three daughters, and currently lives in Rossville, Illinois. Her hobbies include reading, gardening and swimming. She also enjoys activities as a member of the Alvin Church.
Patrick Lewis, Grounds Superintendant
Patrick has been with Sunset Memorial Park for the past five years. He lives with his wife, Gail and two children in Danville, Illinois.In his spare time, Patrick enjoys bike riding, drawing, reading and movies.
Brandon Pettigrew, Grounds Maintenance
Brandon has moved from working in our plant to working on the cemetery grounds in the fall of 2011. He has been with us since May 29th, 2006. He is from and currently lives in Westville, IL.
Bob McGraugh, Funeral Director
Bob has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 7 years. Bob has two daughters, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Currently Bob lives in Danville, Illinois, and when he's not help families here at Sunset Funeral Home, you can find him fishing, golfing, or volunteering with local organizations. He also loves to travel.
James Blue, Reverand James Blue, Funeral Director's Assistant
Pastor Blue has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 16 years. He and his wife,Christinia currently reside in Georgetown, Illinois, and have the joy of spending time with their three children, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. When not spending time with his extended family, he enjoys quiet hours reading the Bible, doing yard work and watching old westerns.
Charles DeBarba, Funeral Director’s Assistant
Charles has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 7 years. He, his wife, Cindy and their son live in Westville, Illinois. In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors and spending time with family.
Bruce Seidler, Funeral Director’s Assistant
Bruce has been with Sunset Funeral Home for the past 5 years. He and his wife, Judy live in Bismarck, Illinois, and when he's not at work he enjoys gardening and working on home remodeling projects.
Michael Grant, Funeral Director's Assistant
Michael joined the Sunset team in November of 2011. Currently he calls Danville, Illinois his home, and is attending Danville Area Community College. He loves both sports and spending time with family and friends.
Everett Clark, Funeral Director’s Assistant
Everett has been with Sunset Funeral Home for over 5 years. He is married, with three daughters. Everett and his wife, Norma live in Danville, Illinois. He is a gospel concert organizer, and when he's not working at the funeral home or in this position, he enjoys watching sports, working at his computer, and spending time with family.
Marvin Davis, Funeral Director’s Assistant
Marvin has been with Sunset Funeral Home for 3 years. He, his wife, Debi and their two children live in Danville, Illinois. When he's not at work, or spending time with is family, you can find him on the golf course.