Scatamacchia Enters ‘Semi-Retirement,’ Carnevale Steps Up

Lawrence A. Carnevale.

Photo: Lawrence A. Carnevale.

A familiar name in funeral service is disappearing with the semi-retirement of Robert H. Scatamacchia.

The Scatamacchia Funeral Home, long a Mount Washington staple, merged with the Paul C. Rogers Funeral Home in 2011. Now, the combined Monument Square funeral home has become the Paul C. Rogers Family-Carnevale Funeral Home. Although his name is no longer on the sign, Scatamacchia, 64, said he is still working.

“I plan on continuing to work with all of the families I have served for generations,” Scatamacchia told WHAV.

A less familiar name, but one that has worked at the home for nearly 30 years, is that of Lawrence A. Carnevale. Carnevale said he got started as the “sandwich boy,” securing refreshments for the Rogers’ staff when he was only 16. He later became a graduate of Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science, Atlanta, Georgia. Carnevale and his wife, Stephanie, live above the funeral home and still take telephone calls personally. Carnevale has an ownership interest with Paul C. Rogers Jr., and a fourth generation, Joshua J. Rogers of Haverhill.

Born on Columbus Day

A 1936 calendar distributed by the former Leonard A. Tilton Funeral Home.

A 1936 calendar distributed by the former Leonard A. Tilton Funeral Home.

Carnevale said he was born on Columbus Day and is committed to carrying on the Scatamacchia tradition of serving the Italian-American community, among other ethnicities.

“I came to work in 1985 I’m honored to walk in the shadows of D’Amico and Sons, Pitocchelli and Scatamacchia,” Carnevale said.

Scatamacchia said his father, Hugo F., served the Italian, Lithuanian and Polish communities when he bought the D’Amico Funeral Home on Bartlett Street. Upon acquiring the Pitocchelli Funeral Home, the business moved to 358 Washington St.

The Paul C. Rogers Funeral Home began as the Leonard A. Tilton Funeral Home in 1919 and moved to 334 Main St. in 1933. The building was built in 1870 and is the last remaining Victorian home in Monument Square, Carnevale said. Rogers bought the business in 1948. Besides Scatamacchia, the home also absorbed the Murphy & Curtin Funeral Home.