LIVE OAK — It was an emotional moment last month for D.M. Udell and Sons when they were officially licensed to open their new facility.

It was a long time coming for Douglas Udell Sr., who opened his first funeral home just down Walker Ave. in 1972.

“If you look at where we came from, especially with where my father came from from when he first moved here and opened his business,” Douglas Udell II said. “So to see where God has brought us from there to where we are now, it was a magnificent moment, full of emotions.

“Very thankful. Very thankful.”

In between D.M. Udell Funeral Home has had two other locations, including the most recent stop right next door to the new facility, which is located at 120 Walker Ave. SW.

The Udells began work on the new building in May 2014.

Douglas Udell Sr. said the reason for the new building was two-fold: family and the community.

“We built this for my sons and for them to operate,” he said about Douglas II, who works with him, and William, who is in school right now. “The facility is built for them to operate and we built it for the community, to provide a total funeral service. Anything they want … we do it all. It can all be done from here.”

Douglas Udell II agreed that they had the community in mind when deciding to construct the new building that has allowed them to expand the services they provideL including a private viewing room for the family as well as a kitchen area where they can serve food during visitations.

“It’s much more convenient,” he said. “It’s not for us. It’s for the people we serve, for the community that we live in and the surrounding counties.”

While thankful and grateful for the newly opened building, the Udells don’t plan to stop there.

Their old building is scheduled to be town down next month and then the second phase of the new facility will begin. That phase will include another chapel, one that will have room to seat 250. It will also include additional parking.

“We can really provide a service with the space we have, the convenience of this building,” Douglas Udell Sr. said. “This service that we feel like our clientele and people would want.

“We can offer complete services, everything that families want or require during their time of bereavement. We have the facilities to offer everything that they want.”