Remembering the Father Who Inspired Our Business

by Keith Crawford | May 19, 2021

Shortly after my father died in 2013 after a long illness, I volunteered to go with my mom to the local funeral home. My father was a planner at heart and we knew he’d made his own arrangements and pre-paid for everything. After all, he’d served as an officer in the Air Force and was an architect for 45 years, designing many landmarks around his home state of New Mexico.

My dad was not someone who would leave things to chance. He wanted to keep the burden of his final arrangements from his family.

But when we arrived, the Funeral Director tried to convince us to spend additional money on services we didn’t want or need. It was confusing and upsetting, especially during this time of grief. There was also quite a lot of complicated paperwork that we had to fill out by hand, taking a lot of time. This experience stuck with me for the next few years and when my partner, David Odusanya and I, began thinking of business ideas, I remembered what happened with my father, Dale, and what he would have wanted. David’s experience was similar in England when his mother died, and he agreed that there must be “a better way.”

The man the kids and grandkids called “Pops” was not someone who would have wanted us to go through “upselling” with a salesman.

That’s why when we created Solace, we committed ourselves to a philosophy of no surprises, one cost, no hidden fees, a transparent price and process.

On this Father’s Day, when I remember my father, I think about how he left a legacy behind … an architect helping design one more thing after his death — our business, and how proud he would be that we are taking care of families, just like he took care of us.

My father was an “Architect at Heart,” as I shared in this animated video, and I miss him.

For everyone who is a father or is thinking of their father this month, happy Father’s Day to all of you.