New Covina Memorial Venue

New Memorial Venue

Sacred Heart Chapel, an historic, gothic-style chapel in Covina, is the new memorial/funeral site for Foothill Funeral & Cremation Services (FFC). Also, its rectory is home to FFC owners Manny Godoy and Rocky Bautista and their two daughters. Clients of the Glendora-based mortuary can hold services at the Covina location or the alternate venue of their choice. Using Sacred Heart Chapel as their ceremonial base, FFC can help Southern California mourners plan and host a service that elegantly and intimately honors departed loved ones while seating up to 220 family and friends.

A Perfect Partnership

Since its construction in 1911, the stately stone chapel, quarried from the nearby San Gabriel Mountains, has been the site of spiritual ceremonies that have varied greatly according to customs and beliefs. But each occasion along the way shared a common purpose – to honor lives and legacies. That makes it a perfect fit for Foothill Funeral & Cremation.

About Sacred Heart Chapel

Located at 381 West Center Street at the edge of Downtown Covina, Sacred Heart Chapel features arched wooden doors, a high wooden beam ceiling, rich red carpeting, granite stone lower walls, a marble alter, rich, hand-carved wood and traditional statuary. Influenced by the American Gothic Revival style, Sacred Heart Chapel also features beautifully restored 19th-century Stations of the Cross, a traditional Baptistery and choir loft equipped with a modern sound system, statuary, and 10 magnificent, original stained-glass windows.

About the City of Covina*

* Adapted from Donald H. Pflueger’s “Covina: Sunflowers, Citrus, Subdivisions,” Castle Press, Pasadena, 1964

Covina in 1800’s

• • 1865 – The first general store in the Covina area is built at “Four Corners,” where the San Bernardino stagecoach road intersected the Azusa Canyon Road. Orange trees are planted there.

• • 1868 – Rowland and Workman agree to partition Rancho La Puente; Rowland becomes the sole owner of the land which will later become Covina.

• • October 13, 1873 – “Don Juan” Rowland dies.

• • May 17, 1876 – “Don Julian” Workman kills himself following the failure of the Temple & Workman Bank and the subsequent forfeiture of his portion of Rancho La Puente to E. J. “Lucky” Baldwin.

• • Fall, 1876 – Lower Azusa School – the first schoolhouse in what will become the Covina area – opens for classes at the southwest corner of Cypress Avenue and Azusa Street (now Lark Ellen Avenue).

• • 1883 – Frederick Eaton begins surveying the 2,000-acre Phillips Tract. Eaton subsequently names the town site within the subdivision “Covina.”

• • December, 1883 – Covina’s first schoolhouse opens at the southeast corner of San Bernardino Road and Citrus Avenue.

• • Early 1884 – Joseph Moxley buys the first parcel of land in the Phillips Tract and builds the tract’s first residence.

• • December 12, 1884 –The Covina Independent is launched.
  • 1890s – Citrus cultivation steadily grows to become the dominant form of agriculture in the Covina area.

• • 1886 – Covina is officially “founded.”

• • 1891 – The Citrus Union High School District is formed to jointly serve the communities of Azusa, Covina and Glendora.

• • August, 1893 – Area orange growers form the Azusa-Covina-Glendora Citrus Association.

• • 1894 – Two new Grammar Schools are constructed in Covina.

• • September 9, 1895 – Service begins on the new spur line of the Southern Pacific Railroad through Covina.
  • October 10, 1895 – The town’s first bank opens.

• • October 14, 1895 – Covina Citrus Association incorporation

• • 1896 – The Covina City School District is formed.

1900’s in Covina

• • August 6, 1901 – Covina’s incorporation
  • March 30, 1909 – Dedication of the new Covina Union High School.

• • August 7, 1909 – Covina Argus editor J. L. Matthews encourages adoption of the name “West Covina,” for the farming community to the south and west of the city.

• • 1911 – Worshippers build Sacred Heart Chapel.

• • 1945-1946 – The “quick decline” virus begins spreading through the orange groves, killing thousands of trees. The devastating blight heralds the end of Covina’s Citrus Era.

• • 1945-1955 – High demand for new suburban housing after World War II results in a shifting of the local economy from agriculture to residential real estate and construction.

• • 1955-56 – Construction of the original West Covina Plaza shopping center.

• • 1957 – The San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10) extends through the West Covina area.

• • October 24-26, 1957 –Eastland Shopping Center opens.

• • 1959 – Classes begin at the new Northview High School at Azusa Avenue and Cypress.
  • 1960 – An arson fire gutted the abandoned Covina Union High School’s main building on Citrus.
  • October 14, 1960 – 30,000 people gather to hear Vice President Richard Nixon deliver a campaign speech at Eastland.
  • 1962 – The historic Badillo/Phillips house at San Bernardino Road and Hollenbeck is burned down in a fire department training exercise.

• • 1963 – The Covina Public Library constructed on the old Carnegie Library on Second Street.”

• • 1986 – Covina celebrates the centennial of its founding.

2000’s in City of Covina

• • 2001 – Covina celebrates 100 years of incorporation.

• • 2017 – Foothill Funeral & Cremation Services forms an agreement with Sacred Heart to offer memorial services on location. Owners Manny Godoy and Rocky Bautista move into the rectory. The rest is history!

 About Foothill Funeral & Cremation

Foothill Funeral & Cremation is one of very few funeral homes that are certified by the Green Burial Council. With a beautiful showroom and offices located at 402 West Baseline in Glendora, Foothill Funeral & Cremation proudly serves the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles Basin, Orange County and the Inland Empire. With years of experience in the mortuary industry, we have worked hard to build a reputation of quality, sincerity and trust. We would be honored to help you at your time of need or in the future. Call today (626) 335-0615 or drop by our showroom.