Funeral directing actually is the oldest of all the recognized professions, dating from before law, medicine, or even organized religion. Some forms of burial customs are known to have existed as far back as the late Paleolithic period, 50,000 to 30,000 years B.C. The ancient Egyptians are credited with the first use of the practice of embalming. Spices and balsams were used as preservatives, giving rise to the term “em-balsaming,” which evolved into our word “embalming.” Mummies, the embalmed and wrapped Egyptian corpses, have been discovered in modern times still in an excellent state of preservation, many thousands of years after their burial.
Egyptian embalming, like so many other forms of civilization, faded into obscurity during the Dark Ages in Europe, which extended from the fall of Rome up until the Renaissance.
But in the 1600’s with the revival of learning, scientific-minded anatomists began to research the human body, using actual organs and tissue in their studies. Preservation of these human parts was necessary to allow accurate dissection and research. The embalmer’s art was re-developed to provide these laboratory specimens. After that, the wealthy found the skills of these early embalmers useful to preserve the corpses of prominent members of the nobility. But the common people were deeply rooted in ancient burial practices and did not adopt embalming as a standard way of treating the dead until a couple of centuries later.
In the United States, the practice of embalming was almost unknown outside of medical schools up until the wartime emergency of the Civil War. After 1861, the families of Northern soldiers would hire embalmers to preserve the bodies of their loved ones killed down south, making it possible to bring them home for burial.
The body of President Abraham Lincoln was embalmed after his assassination. This permitted it to be publicly displayed at stops along the railroad trip from Washington back to his burial spot in Springfield, Illinois. Modern scientific embalming became fashionable and wide-spread after that, and is today universally accepted and practiced throughout the United States.
During the years before embalming became commonplace, the “undertakers” of early America provided simple funeral services, usually as a sideline to other businesses. One man in a community might keep a long metal tank, usually six feet by two feet in dimensions. When a death occurred, this undertaker would buy a large amount of ice, haul it and the tank to the home of the deceased, and lay out the body in the tank, packed in crushed ice. Of course, this procedure didn’t work for long, and burials had to be completed rather quickly, especially in the hot weather of summer.
The undertaker also provided the coffin, either built by him or by a local cabinet maker. A member of the family of the deceased would come to the undertaker’s store, which was usually connected with the furniture business, and describe the deceased’s size and weight. A properly sized wooden box would be built, or selected from existing stocks. They would also pick out the quality of the metal handles and decorative hardware to be placed on the coffin, and perhaps buy a pillow set to place under the corpse. Later, mass-produced coffins, now called “caskets,” were made in factories and shipped to the undertakers to allow the families greater selections.
Either the funeral director, or a nearby livery stable, kept a fancy hearse which would be drawn by a team of the finest horses wearing specially decorated harnesses. The finished coffin would be taken to the home of the deceased in the hearse. The remains would be placed in the coffin and, with a minister and the mourners following behind, the whole procession would make its way at a slow pace to the cemetery.
The women wore heavy veils of black. The men wore black bands of crepe around one sleeve and sometimes black gloves, which could be rented from the undertaker. Since it was considered sacrilegious to trot the horses while going to the cemetery, the trip often took a long time to complete.
Modern funeral practice has made many advances from those old days. Today the body is quickly and discretely removed from the home or hospital and taken to the private preparation area of the funeral home. Spotless medical equipment and technically advanced chemicals are employed to prepare the body, in sanitary surroundings similar to those in the operating room in a fine hospital. Restorative art is employed to erase the rigors of death and create the last impression of peaceful sleep.
Attractive rooms with comfortable furnishings, soft music and lighting, and air conditioning are available for the use of the family and those wishing to pay their last respects to the deceased. Sleek family and flower cars augment the fleet of fine funeral coaches used in the movements of the remains. The most up-to-date computers and communications equipment assist the family in notifying distant relatives and informing the community. A multi-denominational chapel is available for those families who do not choose to use one maintained by one of the organized religions. A video might be prepared, depicting the deceased’s life and accomplishments.
And most importantly, the professionally trained and experienced funeral director does everything possible to take away responsibilities and concerns from the bereaved, and to perform every detail of the interment service in a dignified and respectful manner. He provides a haven for grieving hearts.
The primary purpose of all this elaborate procedure is the protection of the public health. The thorough disinfection of the dead from deadly communicable diseases and the subsequent prevention of epidemic, through embalming, has undoubtedly been the greatest advance in human safety ever. We all live longer and healthier lives today because of the technical knowledge of the funeral professionals in our communities.
A secondary purpose of embalming has been to provide an extension of time for the return of the deceased and distant relatives and friends, to their family homes for the funeral. Traditional ceremonies do much to aid in the time of bereavement, and the ability to gather family and friends together provides great comfort and support during those sorrowful times.
Because of the funeral director, America is a better and safer place in which to live. During most of the last century, Marion was served by many such dedicated funeral professionals. At the turn of the century, Otis W. Williams provided undertaking services in connection with his furniture store in the 200 block of North Market Street. Around 1914, Gottlieb J. Frick and Charles D. Ozment ran the Union-sponsored funeral home there. Egbert Hudgens, Elza Cash and Bert Scobey would later combine and re- combine with Frick and Ozment, in various arrangements of funeral partnerships, in various locations around the City.
In 1939, Noah Woodrow Wilson from Karnak, Illinois hired Matthew Maller to run the Wilson Funeral Home in the Judge Potter home at 807 North Market Street. In 1947, Woodrow Wilson retired to Arizona, and Mailer continued the funeral business on his own, located first at 807 North Market, then briefly at 102 North Vicksburg, and finally at 907 North Market.
Long-time Marion Funeral Director C.D. Ozment died in 1941, but his partner, Leonard Mitchell, continued to run the Ozment-Mitchell Funeral Home which had been located at 800 North Market Street since 1937. Mitchell’s successor, Larry G. Hughes, joined the firm in 1966 and has operated the Mitchell-Hughes Funeral Home at that same location since 1970. One would have to look hard to find a more community-spirited pair of citizens than Larry and Diane Hughes. Their public service has been outstanding. The Mitchell-Hughes establishment has seen continuous expansion and modernization over nearly 70 years, and their business has grown apace.
In 1941, influential Marion businessman, former County Sheriff and funeral director G.J. Frick moved from his longtime location at 901 N. Court Street (now the Taco John’s parking lot) to the former Cash- Clark funeral home located at 104 South Van Buren. Following World War II, Mr. Frick and his son, James “Jimmy” Frick, did considerable expansion and remodeling to the home at the Van Buren site. In 1953 they dedicated the lovely new Memorial Chapel addition to the Frick Funeral Home. Today the building houses the Salvation Army (now ArtStarts).
Between them, Maller’s and Frick’s mortuaries had the lion’s share of Marion’s funerals up until 1953. That became a year of transition. Because of business reverses, Maller sold his funeral home to James R. Wilson. So the Maller Funeral Home at 907 North Market Street became the Wilson Funeral Home once again, but this time with a different Wilson at the helm. G.J. Frick died in 1953, and Jimmy Frick decided to make his career in another profession. In 1955, he sold the Frick family’s funeral home to Jim Wilson, just as Maller had done. Jim Wilson merged the two mortuary operations into one, moved it to 104 South Van Buren and named it the Wilson-Frick Funeral Home.
Today, Jim Wilson’s son, Robert Wilson, and Robert’s partner, David McReynoIds, run the beautiful new Wilson-McReynolds Funeral Home which they built on the old McKinley Grade School grounds, at the intersection of North Court and West Boulevard Streets. Placing the mortuary at this location brings this business full circle, geographically speaking, from Frick’s old spot just across the street. They continue the tradition of fine public service for which the Maller-Frick-Wilson lineage has long been justly famous.
In 1982, Greg Meredith created an entirely new funeral service establishment north of the City on Route 37, just across from the city cemeteries. In 1999, he sold the business to the Marion native Monte Blue, who had been his employee and later his partner. The Blue Funeral Home has recently completed its fifth building expansion and provides many modern services to its growing clientele. It is currently the busiest funeral home in Marion.
No story about Marion’s funeral homes would be complete without mentioning the names of some of those who have served so faithfully as workers. This year Pete Thompson will complete 50 years of service at Mitchell-Hughes. Terry Ragain, William “Topper” Hurst, Ira Cash, Esco Edwards, Jr., Lawton Allen, Bill Dill, Ed Brush, Gene Spain, and my rather, Fayette Paul, were vital cogs in the machinery Of funeral service in Marion.
Marion Living salutes all of our proud funeral professionals who have served this community so well in the past, and who will undoubtedly continue to serve us wisely and well in the years ahead.
(Article written be Bernard Paul, published in Marion Living Magazine, December 2006)