On a recent afternoon, Shawn Baker could be heard trudging up the basement stairs of his family business, slowly and deliberately. When he finally appeared, the reason was evident: In one arm he carried two heavy, leather-bound books of funeral records from the 1940s; in the other, two hardcover telephone books from the 1960s.
Baker’s company—Chinn-Baker Funeral Service—has served the Black community in Green Valley since 1942. Known for decades as simply Chinn Funeral Service (that’s what the sign now says out front), it occupies the same brick building it always has on Shirlington Road. James Chinn founded the business 82 years ago to provide dignified mortuary services for Black families at a time when such services were harder to come by.
“There weren’t many funeral homes that catered to the Black community at that time,” Baker says. “We needed basic decency. There wasn’t the care for our loved ones.”
Flipping open one of the record books, he notes the logs that were once painstakingly recorded by hand—birth and death dates, cause of death and veteran status. These solemn tomes, which fill the shelves of the upstairs office and the basement, are a treasure trove of Arlington lives.
In the 1960s, Chinn hired Baker’s uncle Robert as an assistant. Robert took over the business in 1969, and Baker’s father, Rupert, soon joined him. The two elder Bakers operated the home until their deaths in 2018 and 2013, respectively, when Shawn became managing director.
Having grown up in the family business, Shawn Baker cemented his skills by attending mortuary school and earning an MBA. His cousin, Cha’Vonne Baker, is now the operations manager. Other family members help out with the dozens of funeral services conducted here each year. In one of the phone books, Baker proudly points out a 1960s advertisement for Chinn’s that includes his uncle’s name.
He has mixed feelings about the recent redevelopment around Shirlington. Several Black-owned businesses have gone by the wayside, including the landmark Green Valley Pharmacy, which Leonard “Doc” Muse ran from 1952 until his death in 2017.
“We handled the services for Doc,” Baker says. “His funeral was in the town square. We also handled the services for [civic activist] John Robinson, the man for whom the town square is named.”
He’s glad Chinn-Baker is still there, helping local families.
“When people call us it’s probably the worst day of their lives,” Baker says. “Just being able to be there for them is satisfying. It’s part of the calling, our way to serve people.”