Conroy-Tully Funeral Home was founded in 1959 by John Conroy and his brother-in-law Ralph Tully. Prior to that John served as manager of the family’s funeral home in Biddeford, Maine and Ralph was manager of M & P and American Theaters . The wives of both were active with their husbands. Gertrude Conroy worked primarily in Biddeford, while Theresa Tully worked beside her husband in all facets of the day to day operations of the firm in Portland.

The original facility was located at 15 Deering Street—the former location of Flaherty and Sons Funeral Homes. In 1960, the firm purchased the R. J. Duddy and Sons Funeral Home at 172 State Street and moved their firm to this location. It continues to serve today as our main office.

In 1972, the Tully’s oldest son Paul joined the firm. He was a graduate of Fordham University and the New England Institute of Mortuary Science. Paul bought his Uncle John’s interests in the business.

In February 1990, the firm opened a branch location in South Portland at 1024 Broadway. The new facility was a state of the art full service facility designed to serve the Greater Portland community. Christopher Crawford joined the firm that year prior to the death of Ralph Tully. Chris was a licensed Funeral Director with 13 years of experience. Christopher was a Maine native of Old Town who was educated at Husson College, The New England Institute and the University of Maine in Orono. He had served as a Funeral Home Branch Manager in the Community of Madison Maine and Lewiston Maine prior to joining Conroy-Tully Funeral Home.

On October 26, 2001, Christopher Crawford and his wife Beverly purchased the business from the Tully Family. The firm employs four licensed Funeral Directors, a full time office administrator and several part time personnel. On August 1, 2004, the firm became Conroy-Tully Crawford Funeral Homes & Cremation Services. The Crawford Family is carrying on the longstanding Conroy-Tully tradition as “Portland’s Only Independently Owned and Family Operated Funeral Home.”