McKown Funeral Home
About us
Our story
McKown Funeral Home was established in 1925 by James H. McKown and his wife, Emma E. (Hambsch) McKown. In 1929, the business moved to its current location at 2922 13th Street. The business continued to grow until the death of James H. McKown in 1939. After her husband’s death, Emma received her temporary funeral director’s license and continued to operate the business to support her three sons. Emma worked hard to keep the business open while devoting as much time as possible to her kids, but after three years business dropped off and the funeral home closed.
re-opening
After spending time in the armed services, two of Emma’s sons, Joe and Jim, decided they would reopen the funeral home. Re-opening in 1949, after a seven-year hiatus, was difficult. With dedication to service and a devotion to helping families, the business began to grow. In 1959, a new addition with a chapel was built to the existing structure. This addition doubled the amount of space in the funeral home. In the mid-1960s, the business expanded to include a funeral home in Silver Creek. In 1970, Jean McKown's husband, Larry Bosak, was added to the staff. In 1980, 31 years after the re-opening of the funeral home, Jim retired. Five years later, Joe also decided to retire. Larry and Jean (McKown) Bosak continued operation of the funeral home until 2009..
new owners
The business was purchased by employees Gregg Ridgeway, Dave Purcell, and Brad Eickhoff. After the change in ownership, a remodel of the chapel and front entrance took place. This modernized the chapel and transformed the building to be more handicap accessible. In 2023, Dave Purcell retired from funeral directing. In November of 2018, the business acquired the McKown-Rice Funeral Home in Genoa to bring the same family-owned values and devotion to service to Genoa and the surrounding area. These values are continued through the dedication of the current owners as well as past and present employees.