By Ryan Skaith
St. Joseph Post
Meierhoffer Funeral Home and Crematory is marking 130 years of business in St. Joseph. The funeral home was founded in 1894 and has been owned continuously by the same family for five generations.
Michael Meierhoffer, who has been with the company for over fifty years, says the funeral home has been in the current location for about 20 years. "We made a decision to leave 20th and Frederick and relocate our business to the cemetery at Memorial Park, which we purchased about three years prior to that."
The funeral business has changed a lot in 130 years, and Meierhoffer notes they had to change with the times, "We had to have more room. We had to have a completely new layout in order to handle the facilities people need."
Meierhoffer says, "A funeral home, as we know it today, didn't really exist in St. Joseph until my grandfather built a funeral home designed to handle embalming in 1927, which was state of the art at the time."
Today, Meierhoffer Funeral Home and Crematory offers a wide array of services, with Meierhoffer adding, "We are now a funeral home, crematory, cemetery, and mausoleum. We have pet services, known as Family Pals, along with prearrangement services.
Meierhoffer notes, "Our philosophy is continuing in leadership. With people, with facilities, with merchandise, and cemetery services."
Meierhoffer's sons, Scott and Todd, are currently running the company.