Iles Funeral Homes

What Iles Funeral Homes does

Iles Funeral Homes is a family-owned, multi-location funeral services provider headquartered in the Des Moines, Iowa metropolitan area. The firm operates seven chapel locations spanning Des Moines and surrounding suburbs, with operating history in certain locations dating back to 1882 and the Iles family's ownership extending from 1960. Currently led by second-generation brothers Mark and Mike Iles as co-owners and supported by third-generation family members David Iles (General Manager) and Katie Iles (Finance & Administration), the company offers full-service burial, cremation, pre-planning, and personalization services. The customer base consists of grieving families making at-need arrangements, families of veterans, and individuals purchasing pre-planned funerals, with a sales-led, 24/7 availability model.

The company's service capability is anchored by vertical integration that smaller single-site competitors cannot replicate. It operates Dunn's Crematory in-house with a proprietary identification protocol, performs graphic design and video production internally (supporting personalized memorial folders and video tributes), and offers live-streamed services and a digital memorial registry. The Des Moines metro is the exclusive geographic footprint, with staff averaging 20+ years of funeral-directing experience and active involvement in the Iowa Funeral Directors Association and DMACC mortuary science instruction.

The business model is consumer-direct, with revenue generated per service through at-need burial and cremation packages plus forward revenue from pre-planned contracts. The 2022 opening of the Jordan Creek Chapel in West Des Moines and the 2022 acquisition of O'Leary Funeral and Cremation Service in Norwalk reflect a deliberate multi-decade roll-up strategy within the metro. The 2022 partnership with Amanda the Panda, a Central Iowa grief-support nonprofit, extends the firm's role beyond the funeral transaction into ongoing bereavement services. No external funding or private equity capital is involved; the company is owner-financed and owner-operated.

Name

Iles Funeral Homes

Legal name

Iles Funeral Homes

Website

https://ilesfuneralhomes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Iles Funeral Homes is a family-owned multi-location funeral services provider operating seven chapels across the Des Moines, Iowa metropolitan area, offering burial, cremation, pre-planning, and personalized memorial services to local families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Des Moines

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Professional Funeral Services: Professional services including arrangement counseling, funeral directing, embalming, preparation, use of facilities for ceremony and visitation, coordination with cemetery and other third parties.
2. Merchandise Sales: Sale of caskets, burial vaults, cremation urns, keepsakes, memorial products, and related merchandise. Wide selection available from basic to premium options.
3. Cremation Services: Complete cremation services including private family viewing area, use of crematory facility, and certificate of cremation. Options include direct cremation and memorial ceremonies.
4. Personalization Products: Custom memorial folders, video tributes, thank you cards, register books, memory boards, and memorial blankets created by in-house graphic design team.
5. Pre-Planning Services: Pre-need funeral planning with payment options including installment plans, protecting against inflation, and transferring risk to funeral home.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Iles Funeral Homes provides traditional funeral, cremation, and pre-planning services through seven chapel locations and an on-site crematory in the Des Moines, Iowa metropolitan area. Core services include complete burial with viewing and ceremony, cremation with optional viewing or memorial service, sale of caskets, urns, vaults, and keepsakes, and personalized memorial products such as video tributes, custom printed folders, digital guest registries, and livestreamed services. The business is family-owned and split into a Care Center Team (care of the deceased) and an Arranging Team (service planning).

Product overview

Iles Funeral Homes operates as a multi-location funeral service provider with seven chapels in the Des Moines metropolitan area offering a comprehensive suite of funeral and cremation services. The core offerings include traditional burial services (complete funeral services with viewings, chapel services, and graveside ceremonies) and cremation services (complete cremation with viewing, memorial services, and direct cremation). The company differentiates through proprietary personalization capabilities including in-house graphic and video production for custom memorial folders, video tributes (up to 60 photos with music), and digital guest registries. Service enhancements include unique memorial products (urns, vaults, keepsakes, memorial blankets, portraits), ceremonial add-ons (dove/butterfly releases, bagpiper, military honors), and technology features (livestreaming, online obituaries with QR codes). All cremations are conducted at the company's own Dunn's Crematory facility.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dunn's Crematory: On-site crematory facility at the Dunn's location for cremation services with strict identification protocols.

Products and services

• Burial Services
• Cremation Services
• Pre-Planning Services
• Service Enhancements (Ceremonial Add-Ons)
• Caskets
• Burial Vaults
• Urns and Keepsakes
• Cremation Caskets and Containers
• Video Tributes
• Memorial Folders and Printed Materials
• Livestreaming Services
• Online Obituaries and Condolences Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Consistently rated 'Excellent' by families in survey scores over 20 years

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Amanda the Panda (EveryStep)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Iles Funeral Homes partners with Amanda the Panda to support children and families when someone they love has died. Services include weekend camps for children ages 5-17, college students, and adults, as well as support groups, Fun Days, and Holiday Support activities. Amanda the Panda provides these services free of charge to Iles families. Their mission is to restore grieving children and families back into the mainstream of their lives through innovative services that provide hope and healing.
• O'Leary Funeral and Cremation ServicecoreOthers · 1 January 2022O'Leary Funeral and Cremation Service became part of Iles family in 2022. The Norwalk location was rebranded as Iles Norwalk Chapel and now features state-of-the-art sound systems, video tributes, live streaming, and recording of services consistent with other Iles locations. The facility also continues its tradition of welcoming civic organizations and families for non-funeral related activities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Carriage Services: Carriage Services is a publicly traded death care company operating funeral homes and cemeteries across the U.S., with a focus on personalized service and locally branded operations. It is a direct strategic and operational comparable to Iles' locally branded, multi-chapel model.
• Park Lawn Corporation: Park Lawn is a publicly traded Canadian provider of funeral, cemetery, and cremation services with a growing U.S. footprint through acquisitions. Its acquisition-driven growth model and service portfolio (burial, cremation, merchandise) closely mirror Iles' multi-chapel operating approach.
• Foundation Partners Group: Foundation Partners Group is a PE-backed rollup of funeral homes and cemeteries across the U.S., offering similar burial, cremation, and pre-need services. It is the most direct comparable for Iles in terms of multi-location independent funeral home strategy and is highly relevant from a private equity investment thesis standpoint.

Broad incumbents

• Dignity Memorial: Dignity Memorial is SCI's consumer-facing brand for funeral, cremation, and cemetery services. It competes with Iles in the Des Moines market through brand recognition and bundled service packages, but operates as part of a much larger national portfolio.
• Service Corporation International (SCI): SCI is the largest funeral, cremation, and cemetery services provider in North America, operating through brands including Dignity Memorial. It competes with Iles for families across the U.S., including in the Des Moines market, but operates as a broad incumbent across many geographies rather than a regionally focused provider.
• StoneMor Partners: StoneMor is a publicly traded provider of funeral and cemetery products and services with a large national footprint. As a broad incumbent operating across many geographies, it competes with Iles for share but is not a regionally focused provider.

Emerging players

• Tulip Cremation: Tulip is a venture-backed direct cremation provider offering online-arranged, low-cost cremation services. It represents an emerging disposition model that competes for the same families Iles serves, particularly those seeking simpler or lower-cost arrangements.

Regional players

• Hamilton's Funeral Home: Hamilton's is a long-established, family-owned funeral home serving the Des Moines metro area. It offers similar burial, cremation, and pre-need services and is one of Iles' most direct local competitors for case volume in central Iowa.
• Bates Funeral Home: Bates is an independent funeral home serving the Des Moines area with comparable burial and cremation offerings. As a similarly sized regional competitor, it competes with Iles for families in overlapping central Iowa communities.

Others

• Frazer Consultants: Frazer Consultants is a leading technology and consulting provider serving independent funeral homes with websites, marketing, and personalization tools. As a key vendor of funeral home technology (similar to what Iles builds in-house), it is an ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/IlesFuneralHomes

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Iles Funeral Homes