J. Verne Wood Funeral Home — Funeral Home in Portsmouth, NH

J. Verne Wood Funeral Home is the oldest mortuary in Portsmouth, having served the city and surrounding communities for over 150 years. The business traces its roots to the undertaking firm of J. Verne Wood, a former Police Commissioner, who operated the original Buckminster Chapel at 7 Islington Street. In the 1940s, George Bradford Ward, a cousin of J. Verne Wood, took over the business.

George Bradford Ward acquired the Benjamin F. Webster House in 1953 and relocated the funeral home to its present location, renaming it J. Verne Wood Funeral Home while retaining the Buckminster Chapel name as homage to the original site. After George Bradford Ward's passing in 1973, his brother Nelson Kellogg Ward and nephew Fred Grant Ward, Jr. continued the family business until Nelson left to pursue a career as a professional organist, leaving Fred G. Ward, Jr. as sole owner.

The funeral home is currently operated by Thomas G. LaBerge and his wife Deborah LaBerge, daughter of Fred G. Ward, Jr., continuing the Ward family legacy that has guided the business for multiple generations.