Bio: Hoeper, Bill – Withee
Funeral Parlor Owner
Transcriber:
stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Hoeper, Lawson, Gribenow
---------Source: Withee Centennial (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 2001
Bill came to the area in 1913. He became a licensed embalmer in 1936. He
helped Mr. Griebenow in 1922 at the Lawson/Griebenow Funeral Home in Withee.
This was a combination funeral parlor and hardware store. Later in the 30s
they built a new hardware store and funeral parlor in Owen and moved all
their stock there.
All embalming was done in the homes in the early days, then the family would
come in and pick out a coffin which would be taken back to the homes and the
body would be placed in the coffin and would be ready for viewing. Funerals
would usually take place in the homes, or some would have them in the
churches. The flowers would always be a problem. They usually had several
"flower girls" to take care of the flowers - from the house, to the church,
to the cemetery - they had to be taken off the stands and put back up at
each place.
Graves were dug by hand at that time. Winter was really a nightmare for
them. It took a lot of ingenuity to get the graves dug.
Mr. Hoeper opened his own funeral parlor in Owen in 1954 and sold out to
Maurina in 1972.
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