Zirbel Funeral Home has new owners 

While Scott and Karen Zirbel will still be involved with some of the funerals that will take place at Zirbel Funeral Home at 115 Williams St. – the business they established 42 years ago – they have passed the proverbial torch to its new owners, Arthur (Art) Webb and Amos Malone, who jointly purchased the business in April. 

Since then, Webb and Malone have added another licensed funeral director, Christin Greven, to the fold. Together, along with some assistance from the Zirbels, the group is committed to integrity and a sincere focus on the families they serve. 

This week’s article will focus on introducing Webb to the community. Malone and Greven will each be featured in the next week or so.  

Born to Arthur Webb, Sr. and his wife, Linda, Art grew up in Elkton, Maryland. His father passed away when Art was just 11 years old, but his mother and stepfather, Charles Lannen, still reside in Elkton.  

Art graduated from Elkton High School (EHS) in 1998 and was an avid football player and weight lifter. He played defensive tackle and offensive guard for the Elkton Elks and was named an all-state football player in his senior year. 

Art also took first place in the Maryland state high school weight-lifting competition in his final year at EHS. He weighed 215 pounds at the time, which was the minimum for the heavyweight class, and won by lifting 440 pounds.  

“After high school, I attended Williamson Trade School [WTS] in Media, Pennsylvania,” Art said. “I always thought learning a trade was better than someday being replaced by a robot. My grandfather and all my uncles worked for the Chrysler Corporation and began to lose their jobs when things became more automated.” 

In 2001, Art earned his associate degree in nuclear power technology from WTS, and ironically, went to work for the Chrysler Corporation! For the next five years until the plant closed, he worked 12-hour shifts reading gauges.  

“I enlisted in the Army to be a military policeman [MP],” Art said. “My grandfather, Thomas Carnill, had done that in World War II, so that was my inspiration. I did my basic at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and then was sent to Fort Drum. I never actually did any MP duty – instead, I was placed in a 30-man MP platoon within the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion and went to Iraq in 2008. We were there for a year as escorts for an EOD [explosive ordnance disposal] unit, and then [I] came back to Fort Drum until my service ended in 2012.” 

In the meantime, Art had married in 2011 and his son, Finnegan, was born in 2012, followed by Murphy in 2014.   

After the Army, Art moved to Oswego, New York to be a supervisor at Novelis, an aluminum manufacturer, but he abandoned that pursuit in 2016. He then purchased three food trucks and started his own business: Phat Kat Foods.  

Art divorced in 2017 and sold all but one of his food trucks. He brought his taco truck to Auburn, New York. He thought it would be a good place because Auburn didn’t have many such trucks yet. That taco truck still operates in Auburn today – usually at the Owasco Farmers Market from 3 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday evenings, as well as at other special events. Art has others who run the business, and he is the supervisor.  

In 2018, one fine day in Auburn, Art met Brittany Wade from Moravia. They fell in love, got married and became a family of six when Brittany’s daughter, Cadence (now 15), and Art and Brittany’s daughter, Charlotte (now four) filled the ranks.   

Art’s father-in-law, David Wade, owns Wade Funeral Home in Moravia. Wade had mentioned to Art that he wanted to keep his 100-year-old business in the family when he retired, but no one in the family was interested, so Art said he would do it. He began helping out and learning the business.  

“I’m a people person, so I really liked the idea of being a funeral director,” Art said, “because you’re there for people at one of the worst times of their life.” 

Art became the operations manager for FoodNet Meals on Wheels of Tompkins County in 2019. Soon thereafter he began online mortuary school at the American Academy McAllister Institute (AAMI). He worked by day, studied at night and graduated from AAMI in 2021.  

“I had to leave FoodNet after that to do my one-year residency,” Art said. “It’s an apprenticeship, and I went to Herson-Wagner Funeral Home (HWFH) in Ithaca to do mine. In April 2022, I got my New York state funeral director’s license.”  

Greg Meyer, who owns HWFH, also owned Ithaca Cremation Service at the time, so Art had the benefit of learning that side of the business. He learned it so well that he launched his own business – CNY Cremation Service – in Moravia and also continued to work at HWFH.  

It was during this time that Art met the Zirbels because he would often do trade work for them, which is helping out at other funeral homes with things such as embalming or assisting with services.  

Art remained at HWFH until February 2023, when he left to begin the process of purchasing Zirbel Funeral Home (ZFH). The Zirbels were at a place in their lives to sell and had begun to discuss it with Art. As it happened, the Zirbels had known Amos Malone since he was a teenager, and Art got to know him because Malone worked part-time at HWFH.  

“Amos and I decided to form a partnership to purchase Zirbel’s together,” Art said, “so we established Webb-Malone Funeral Service, but we have kept the Zirbel name as our DBA [doing business as].” 

Art is delighted to serve the Groton community, as well as the surrounding area. He keeps busy with ZFH, CNY Cremation and his taco truck, but he is also a committed member of Groton Assembly of God church, Groton American Legion Carrington-Fuller Post 800 and the Moravia Veterans of Foreign Wars. 

“Our focus at Zirbel is on the families who are left when someone passes,” Art said. “We’ve eliminated extra charges common to most funeral homes. We still offer all services, but without all the extra charges because we believe those services should be given at no extra cost. I would rather sleep at night knowing I did right by the families, rather than focusing on profits.”  

Art also added that he is “just trying to love people the way they should be loved. My faith in Christ helps me get through so much sadness and grief that is part of this job. If you don’t feel their sadness and grief, you probably shouldn’t be a funeral director.” 

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at 607-227-4922.  

In brief:  

Rotary calendar sale 

The Groton Rotary Club is selling the 2024 Waterfalls of the Finger Lakes calendars. All proceeds will be split between the fight for ALS and the Groton Fire Department in recognition of the John and Sally Walpole family.  

This year, photographer Dewey Neild included Weaver Falls in Groton on the March 2024 page of the calendar. The exact location is not cited, as it is on private property.  

Rotary sells the Waterfalls of the Finger Lakes calendar as a fundraiser. The calendars retail for $19.95, and the club sells them for $16. They are available at Brittany Station, 152 Main St. Because the sale  is a fundraiser, checks and cash are preferred for payment. Call 607-898-4994 for more information.  

Red Cross blood drive  

The Groton American Legion Carrington-Fuller Post 800, 307 Main St., will host an American Red Cross blood drive from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2. Schedule an appointment by calling 800-733-2767 or going to their website, redcrossblood.org. 

 VBS at Groton Assembly of God 

 Come one, come all, for this year’s “Keepers of the Kingdom” Vacation Bible School at Groton Assembly of God, 701 S. Main St.! They will have a “knightly” program from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Aug.  6 through 10. Open to those entering first grade through those who recently graduated from seventh.