The room is named for Karla.
Maria is Karla M. Cole's middle name. The room is named for her.
The building went up in 1957, a low brick hall on Puritan with a covered walkway across the front. James H. Cole Home for Funerals took it over in 1972 and ran it as the Northwest Chapel for thirty eight years. Families came here from all over the northwest side.
In 2010 the funeral home moved into a new building at 16100 Schaefer Highway, directly across the street. The chapel on Puritan went quiet.
It is being renovated now, as a room for the gathering that comes after the service. A family can leave the chapel and walk here. That is the whole idea, and it is only possible because the two buildings face each other.
James H. Cole Home for Funerals was founded in 1919. It is Black owned, family run, and now in its fourth generation, with Karla M. Cole as president. A century of this family's work has been standing with Detroit families on the worst day. The Maria is the room where those families sit down afterward and eat.