About Us

Our History




"Service Before Self means being there when others can’t — offering steady guidance when families face their hardest days. It’s the legacy our parents and grandparents began, and the standard we continue: one family, serving families, for more than six decades".


-Jacob C. Vandenberg


About Us

The longstanding legacy of our family’s involvement in funeral service dates back to 1938, when James and Lillian Hickey — the future in-laws of Carl R. Vandenberg — opened Hickey Funeral Home. In 1951, Carl married Jean E. Hickey, and shortly thereafter was drafted into the Korean War, serving honorably from 1951–1953 in the Army Graves Registration Unit.

After his service, Carl returned home to work at Hickey Funeral Home, where he helped expand the funeral and ambulance service to several south suburban communities. In the early 1960s, Carl decided to establish a funeral home in Tinley Park, Illinois, moving his family from Blue Island to Tinley Park. The original Vandenberg Funeral Home opened in 1965 in Downtown Tinley Park, where it served families until 1997, when we moved to our modern facility on Harlem Avenue.

In 1985, Carl purchased an old farmhouse on Wolf Road in Mokena, which he lovingly restored and expanded. Two years later, in 1987, he opened the first and only funeral home in Mokena, continuing the family’s commitment to care, excellence, and community.


Another cornerstone of our family’s history was the Vandenberg Ambulance Service, which worked hand in hand with the funeral home. In the early days of emergency medical services, funeral homes often provided ambulance transport because of their long vehicles and availability. Vandenberg Ambulance filled a vital gap in south suburban communities — responding to motor vehicle accidents, serving hospitals and nursing homes, and providing essential transport long before modern EMS systems existed.


Service Before Self has been more than a motto for our family — it’s a promise we’ve lived by since 1965. For over 60 years, Vandenberg Funeral Home has proudly remained owned and operated by a Vandenberg, a testament to our enduring belief that service to others comes before all else. In funeral service, dedication doesn’t follow a schedule. Our directors have quietly stepped away from family gatherings, missed special moments, and arrived late to holidays — not out of obligation, but out of devotion. When a family calls, we answer. When grief strikes, we show up. Because for us, this isn’t just a profession; it’s a calling rooted in compassion, faith, and respect for every life entrusted to our care.


Through the decades, the Vandenberg Family has remained deeply rooted in the communities we serve. We operate with integrity, compassion, and a constant commitment to best practices in funeral service. Our family and staff work closely with local churches, civic groups, and charitable organizations to meet the needs of the community — always with an open mind and a giving heart.

Blue Island Funeral Home

Online Memorial

We can create a customized, online memorial for you to share with family and friends. The memorial includes the obituary and any photographs you wish to provide. It will serve as a place for visitors to post condolences, share memories, upload photos, and light candles in honor of your loved one.

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Tribute Video

We can produce a personal tribute video that can be played at the service and online. Simply provide us with the photographs you want to include and we will transform them into a video celebration of your treasured memories. DVDs or digital files of the video are also available.

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Ordering Flowers

We make it easy for friends and family to send flowers to your home or service to honor your loved one. We have partnered with local florists to offer the convenience of ordering directly from the obituary page of our website. You can also use this feature to select the flowers you would like at the service. This is a secure way to choose beautiful arrangements from the privacy and comfort of your home.

Sharing Service Details

We reduce the stress of contacting those who need the details of the service for your loved one. We post the dates and times of the service as part of the online memorial on our website. You can then either share the memorial on your Facebook or Twitter page or copy the details from the site into an email or text. Both options give you the peace of mind that you have provided the necessary information to those who need it.