Our Story
Learn our story, from the beginning and into the future.
Ever since we opened our doors we have approached life (and death) differently. While some just see the end of a loved one’s life as a time for grief and mourning, we prefer to think of it as a time for reflection, appreciation and even celebration. This is evident in everything we do, from the way we conduct our services to the amenities we choose to offer. We are not a burial ground. We are a close knit community dedicated to honoring, sharing and preserving the amazing and inspirational stories that are life.
Why Us?
In a nutshell? Experience, professionalism, compassion, and empathy.
We've learned a lot over many years. Like how to present options without overwhelming. And how to meet the needs of many caring parties. People come to us in difficult times, and we respond kindness, calmness and expertise. Our goal is to create a beautiful occasion and make you feel welcome, always. We spend our days planning with families. We stay up to date with industry developments. And we make hard times a little easier.
Learn the legacy.
It is with great excitement to announce that the Roberts Downtown Chapel is no longer part of a large corporate firm, and that we are once again family owned and operated. Terry S. Roberts, a familiar face around Ocala is a third generation funeral director. When planning for retirement 25 years ago, Roberts sold his business to a large funeral home corporation. Eventually very unhappy with how the Pennsylvania based corporation was running Roberts Funeral Homes in Ocala, Terry made the decision to rebrand his name, and bring back to the community a Roberts family-owned and operated funeral home.
The first order of business has been to renovate the facility to better serve families. We invite you to stop by and see the beautiful improvements that we are making. This building is steeped in Ocala history, and the people here deserve a beautiful establishment to pay their final respects to their loved ones. It is important to everyone at Roberts of Ocala Funeral & Cremations to make sure that everything is done with a sincere touch and that families are served with their best interests in mind. At Roberts of Ocala Funerals & Cremations , our mission statement is simple: “Our Family Serving Yours.”
We firmly believe that every family should receive the highest quality of care, compassion, and affordable pricing when they entrust their loved ones’ final arrangements to us. That care begins at the time your loved one passes away. Our caring staff will be the ones coming to take your loved one into our care, and once they are in our care, they will be with us the entire time. You never have to worry about your loved one being shifted from facility to facility, as we operate our own family care center, fully equipped with our own crematories. We fully believe that less error is made, and peace of mind is given to families in knowing that their loved ones are safely being cared for.
That is comfort you are not able to achieve with other funeral homes. The pain of losing a loved one can be very overwhelming. At a time when you are the most vulnerable, it is of the utmost importance to receive gentle guidance from caring professionals whom you can trust. In their time of need, families deserve and should receive the kind of care, compassion, and personal service only a family-owned funeral home can provide.
Who We Are
Meet our staff. Members of the local community make everything that happens possible.
Together, we make this place amazing.
Funeral Directors
Kaitlynn Schrader
Funeral Director In Charge
Kaitlynn is a second-generation Ocala native. She is a graduate of Belleview High School and the St. Petersburg College Funeral Service program. Kait has been serving families for more than 18 years and she is passionate about building relationships with members of our community, both those grieving and those supporting the families we serve.
When she isn't working, Kait enjoys traveling, live music, and being in nature.
Bethany Swank
Funeral Director
Bobby Sloan
Funeral Director
Josh Leverette
Funeral Director - MC Unclaimed Program Director
I was born and raised in the small town of Trenton, Florida. I attended Florida Gateway College, The University of Florida (GO GATORS), and St Petersburg College. I graduated from St Pete College in December of 2016 with my Degree in Mortuary Science. After school, I immediately began my one-year internship with the State of Florida which is the last step to obtaining a Funeral Director/Embalmer License.
I have been working in the funeral business since June of 2015 at all different capacities. Helping families arrange the most memorable celebration of life is one thing I pride myself on. I like to go above and beyond, and put the special touches on a service that the families will remember. During their time of loss, I like to be the rock that families can rely on, to help get them through the difficult time.
When I am not at the funeral home, I tend to be at my family’s restaurant, The Ivy House, where I have waited tables the last 7 years. I also love to spend time on the water fishing and skiing, or spending time in the mountains.
Terry Roberts
Funeral Director Emeritus
I was born to Edgar and Doris Roberts and have enjoyed life in the Ocala area for the past seventy -six years. My life has been and is one of service to those in the community. Being born into a ‘funeral home family’ I soon learned plans change, lives change and service to others is paramount when dealing with those difficult situations.
Upon graduation from high school, I attended CFCC and later went on to study at the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in Dallas, Texas. While in the Army, I trained as a military policeman and had the distinct honor of serving on President Eisenhower’s Honor Guard .
I recall the days when the funeral hearse also served as the local ambulance and we responded to emergencies, as well as funeral calls. Those calls, often in the middle of the night, made a lasting impression on my life ,and today I still have such high regard for the first responders who deal with life and death moments on a daily basis.
Community, faith and family are the foundation blocks in my life and I have served as past president of the Ocala Shrine Club, the Fort King Lions Club, the Dunnellon Kiwanis Club, coached the Dunnellon Little League and was Chairman of the Southeastern Youth Fair for two years. Youth and agriculture have always been two areas of special interest to me. Throughout the years I have shown horses competitively, dabbled in breeding and racing horses, competed and drove horses in Combined Driving and still enjoy the ones he that serve as ‘pasture art’ around my home in Dunnellon.
My wife Sherry and I are blessed with six children, thirteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. I am an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoy nothing better than a day on the water or sleeping in the deer stand while listening to the sound of rain on the tin roof!
Heather Vandegejuchte
Apprentice
Heather is our apprentice embalmer and is studying mortuary science at Florida State College at Jacksonville. She has spent most of her adult life assisting surgeons in the operating room. She brings more than a decade of anatomical knowledge and experience caring for surgical patient. She has extensive experience caring for families going through difficult times having worked for Make-A-Wish Hawaii. She believes that a life of service to others is the most rewarding.
In her spare time she enjoys experiencing nature, traveling and spending time with her wife and their three dogs and two cats.
Anthony Chauvin
Apprentice
Operations/Administration
Kyle Johnson
Operations Manager
I was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida where I have lived most of my life. After graduating High School I immediately entered the workforce for a small computer repair shop. After two years of working in IT I was ready to move on to something new. I took an entry level job as a baggage handler at the Gainesville Regional Airport in 2010. Over the course of the 5 years I worked for the Airline Industry, I worked my way up to General Manager in Fayeteville, NC.
In 2016 I made the decision to move back to Gainesville where I eventually ended up working for a Medical Supply chain. In late 2017 when my Dad told me he was working with several partners on opening up a Funeral Home of their own, I immediately knew I wanted to be a part of what he was doing. I had been working part time as an Associate for Forest Meadows in Gainesville and quickly realized how much I respected the industry.
I’m currently attending school and will be completing my Funeral Services degree at St. Petersburg College in Spring of 2020. I’m more and more excited every day to be a part of Roberts of Ocala and feel truly blessed to be a part of this family.
Stephen Solomon
Sales Manager
I was born in Toledo, Ohio into a family of six. I graduated from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, earning individual Bachelor’s degrees in Hospitality Management, Business Administration and Financial Accounting. After graduation, I followed my dream, like most northerners, and moved to Florida, where I worked as an accountant in a CPA firm in Ft. Lauderdale, until taking over one of the firm’s clients as their General Manager of what would become Florida’s largest, all-Jewish cemetery, located in Palm Beach County. This is where I found my true calling. Over the next 25 plus years, I was able to help people in so many ways, each and every day of my life. Making a difference to so many for me, was priceless.
In 2006, along with a like-minded friend, we opened a full-service funeral home in Boynton Beach to serve the needs of the ever-growing Jewish population. Yet, I found Ocala to be the very best place to safely raise a family, finally moving here in 2016, to do just that. I’m a single father of three amazingly compassionate children, all of whom have chosen to work in this field with the same shared passion. My children and I remain highly active in our small but vibrant Ocala Jewish Community, as I am on the Board of Trustees of Temple Beth Shalom of Ocala and assistant treasurer. I hold several key industry licenses (issued by the State of Florida), to assist the many families with the best possible advice from insurance to pre-need trust-funded funeral, cemetery & memorial options.
I spend all my free time with my children, swimming, hiking, cycling, fishing (and cleaning). Aside from my family, my personal hobbies are fishing, cooking, and rare coins/paper money. I am a proud life-time member of the American Numismatic Association and love older coins and rare paper money. I consider myself truly blessed in that I have been fortunate enough to do what I love for the last 30 years of my life. I hope and pray to continue to do so with my Roberts Family here in Ocala for another 30 at least, G-d willing!
Barbara Carbaugh
Director of Marketing, Communications & Community Relations
Sarah Kelley
Office Administrator
Alice Kruger
Administrative Assistant
John King
Facilities Technician
Gretchen Brown
Administrative Associate
Crystal Rodriguez
Administrative Associate
Staff Associates
Janie Niswonger
Staff Associate
Jennie O'Reilly
Staff Associate
Maggie Champagne
Staff Associate
Explore Our Locations
See where we are and find the place that best meet your needs.
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Roberts of Ocala East Chapel
2739 SE Maricamp Road, Ocala, FL 34471
(352) 537-8111
Roberts of Ocala East Chapel
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2739 SE Maricamp Road
- Ocala, FL 34471
- Telephone: (352) 537-8111
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2739 SE Maricamp Road
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Roberts of Ocala West Chapel
Roberts of Ocala West Chapel
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6241 SW State Rd 200
- Ocala, FL 34476
- Telephone: (352) 537-8111
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.robertsfunerals.com
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6241 SW State Rd 200
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Roberts of Ocala Downtown Chapel
Roberts of Ocala Downtown Chapel
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606 SW 2nd Ave
- Ocala, FL 34471
- Telephone: (352) 537-8111
- Fax: (352) 537-8108
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.robertsfunerals.com/
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606 SW 2nd Ave