Arthur Queen, owner of funeral homes in Winfield and Randallstown, dies

Tony Roberts, Baltimore Sun
·2 min read

Arthur Queen, a longtime Baltimore-area funeral director and owner of two funeral homes, died of Parkinson’s disease April 1 at BridgingLife Dove House, a hospice facility in Westminster. He was 83.

Mr. Queen was born in Nutter Fort, West Virginia, to Minter A. Queen Sr., a pottery maker, and Bessie Mae Queen, a homemaker. He was the youngest of five children.

He started working at his uncle’s snack bar in Nutter Fort at the age of 9.

“He was always very busy,” said Wilma Brandenburg, his sister. “He always had a lot to do.”

As a teenager, he decided he wanted to become a funeral director. Mr. Queen would often accompany his father when he visited friends at various funeral homes in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

“He said he always wanted to be a funeral director in high school,” his sister said. “Whenever they asked what do you want to be growing up, that’s what he would say.”

After graduating from the old Roosevelt Wilson High School in Clarksburg in 1958, he went to Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, formerly known as Cincinnati School of Embalming.

Mr. Queen started in the funeral business over 60 years ago at Davis-Weaver Funeral Home in West Virginia when he was a teenager, his sister said.

In 1992, Mr. Queen purchased what is now Burrier-Queen Funeral Home and Crematory, P.A. in Winfield in Carroll County. Until he died, the Sykesville resident was involved with all aspects of the funeral home as owner, president, director and crematory operator. He also owned Loring Byers Funeral Directors in Randallstown.

“He was the epitome of a true funeral professional,” said Jim Covey, vice president of Burrier-Queen. “The community has lost one of a kind.”

He was a member of the former Liberty Exchange Club, a community service organization, Covey said.

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Mr. Queen taught Bible study for 18 years at Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown, where he directed and was the makeup artist for many plays. He was also a member of Elders Baptist Church in Eldersburg, where he took youth groups to his cabin in West Virginia.

Mr. Queen worked with numerous independent funeral homes over the years, and was a member of the Maryland State Funeral Directors Association, the Tri-County Funeral Directors Association and the Cremation Association of North America.

Mr. Queen enjoyed doing woodwork and creating stained and fused glass, which often ended up in his workspace.

“He loved to do woodworking,” his sister said. “He made a lot of furniture in the funeral home, and he sold a lot of them.”

Mr. Queen was predeceased by three of his siblings, Ulamae Queen, Minter Queen and Betty Queen.

He is survived by his sister Wilma Brandenburg, of Parkville, and numerous nieces and nephews.