 Clarence E. Harden and Albert
Layton co-founded the Layton-Harden Funeral Home of Eustis in 1958.
Their goal was to provide the residents with excellence in funeral
services. The first service ever conducted was on August 17, 1958
for Oscar William Henn, a prominent longtime Resident of Eustis.
When Layton-Harden Funeral Home opened, they also ran a 24-hour
ambulance service, serving the Central Florida area. This was a
common practice that Funeral Homes fulfilled. Clarence, his wife
Dorothy, and daughter Kathy lived at the Funeral Home, so they could
attend to the needs of all families around the clock.
 In the Mid-1960’s, State Road 19 also known as Bay Street
was widened from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. When the state zoned which
property was to be used for the expansion, it was decided that the
east side would be used for all right of ways and expansion. This
in essence cut the Funeral Home chapel by about 1/3 and left no
front lawn.
In 1966 Clarence purchased the interest in the Funeral Home from
Al Layton and renamed it to Clarence E. Harden Funeral Home. It
was changed a few years later to Harden Funeral Home. In 1971 the
Funeral Home had it’s largest and most extensive remodeling.
A 4-car Garage, new entrance, Lobby and 2nd floor living quarters
were added. In 1981, a new garage was then built onto the backend
of the Funeral Home because the 4-car Garage has been slowly remodeled
for offices and to make room for a new casket display room to help
meet the ongoing needs of a growing business.
 In 1982 Lance Pauli began buying interest in the Funeral Home and
the Funeral Home was later renamed Harden/Pauli Funeral Home. Clarence
Harden developed and grew the business based on excellent service,
attention to details, and commitment toward flexibility and acceptance
of change as citizen's attitudes toward local burials and cremation
became less traditional.
Mr. Harden introduced to Lake County residents: Itemized pricing
of services years before it was required by the U. S. Federal Trade
Commission, crematable caskets, and prepaid funeral services funded
by Forethought Life Insurance. Harden-Pauli Funeral Home is a charter
stockholder of Funeral Services, Inc. pre-need trust company, a
Member by invitation of Selected Independent Funeral Homes, a charter
member of the Independent Funeral Directors of Florida, and a stockholder
of Metro Crematory of Ocoee, FL.
Harden-Pauli Funeral Home will continue to embrace change in order
to provide the best service that is affordable to every citizen.
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