Massive Undertaking

Still scene from recent version of True Grit

Still scene from in front of my Grandfather's business

My great-grandfather was a cabinet maker as was his son, my grandfather. So it was in the small town of Spencer, Iowa that my grandfather ran his Furniture and Undertaking business. It was not unusual to find ‘Furniture and Undertakers’ as a business under a single roof. Cabinetmakers would often use their craft to make coffins as well as furniture and in the 1800’s most funeral services were held either in the local church or at home.

The True Grit town scene also has a store very similar to my grandfather's where you will see "Furniture and Undertakers" on the store front. The funeral director's business did not emerge until after the Civil War when the embalming process became more widely accepted by the general population.  Prior to burial the deceased were often laid out in the parlor of their home for viewing and final respects. This is the origin of the term funeral parlor.

That is my grandfather, in the photo above, standing in front of the door and one of the little girls could possibly be my mother, though I can't be sure, but it is a good guess. I know that during the 1910 census that the family was in Spencer, Iowa and ten years later they would show up in California on the 1920 census. So I am not sure of the exact year they made the move west but my best guess is around 1912.

Residence and Funeral Home in El Monte, California

As mechanization began to change the furniture business many people involved in the dual business of "Furniture and Undertaking" felt the pressure to move to solely a funeral directing business. And it was probably around that same time the occupation name would change from undertaker to funeral director.

With the move to California my grandfather bought an existing business and that business would carry on through/and with his daughter for years, until selling out to a large mortuary chain in the 1950's. The above photo shows not only the business but the California home of my mother. Later the business was relocated in another part of the city and this house was sold and moved. After it was moved it became a saloon and the story was that the upstairs served as a house of ill-repute. I wonder if the customers knew the history of the place?

My grandfather was a very sweet man and I remember him well. We would always tease him about being "Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker", but he would take the teasing very good-naturedly. In fact my mother had her own story from her childhood. It seems one evening Gramps had fallen asleep in his chair and while he slept my mother every so carefully braided his hair in a 'million' little braids. Well, a call came from a bereaved family and Gramps jumped up, put on his hat and hurried out the door... I suppose you can draw up your own mental image for the end of the story.

So, Mare, this is the long answer to your question as to how my grandmother managed to look "so well taken care of" - was it what you expected?