There have been many people
taking care of the community's need for undertaking and ambulance service since 1858. Most
of the early records have been lost, but inquiries have indicated that one of the first
undertakers was a cabinet-maker named B. Woodrum who built coffins of wood. While in
business in 1863, he buried Tipton's founder, Mr. William Tipton Seely.
Another early undertaker was
H. Dubbs who advertised in an early issue of The Tipton Times. A.J. Crawford & Son
Undertakers advertised in The Tipton Times on March 28, 1883 that they offered for
sale, "Picture Frames, Shrouds & Coffins."
C K. Culler served the
community as undertaker beginning in 1892. His announcement in the newspaper stated that
he made a specialty of undertaking and that he carried a complete line of coffins and
caskets, from the finest metallic to the cheapest plain cases. Because he had made a study
of scientific embalming, he felt prepared to do this work in a thorough manner and claimed
that his prices were always satisfactory.
Later, Mr. Gus Dueber
operated a furniture store in connection with his undertaking parlor located on the main
street in Tipton. (In the early days, undertaking was almost always associated with a
furniture store.) Louis Imhoff began as an apprentice embalmer under Mr. Dueber at the
age of 17. After his twenty-first birthday, Mr. Imhoff took the Missouri State Embalmers
examination and was the first licensed funeral director and embalmer in Tipton. Mr.
Imhoff served Tipton for more than 50 years. He also worked with two succeeding operators,
Henry Wermelskirchen and Joe Kuttenkuler. Mr. Kuttenkuler closed his funeral business in
1938 and sold the furniture business to Charles Longan and Jim Deering.
The 1920 Moniteau County
Atlas carries an advertisement for C.F. Miller, "Furniture
dealer, Funeral director, and Embalmer." He further advertised that he had motor
equipment.
From 1919 to 1927 Mr. J.
Milburn Berkey ran a funeral service. Prior to 1919 he had operated a mercantile store.
In 1925 Jewell E.
"Dick" Richards started another establishment on the main street in Tipton. He
was a graduate of the Williams Embalming Institute in Kansas City, Kansas. In 1939 he
bought the two-story frame boarding house on the corner of Moreau Avenue and Pettis
Street. He remodeled it into a funeral home. Mr. Richards served the area 44 years as a
funeral director, embalmer, and with ambulance service until his death in 1969.
The Conn Funeral Home and
Ambulance Service was established in April 1950 with a
partnership between Richard D.
Conn Sr. and the Williams Funeral Home of California, Mo. In 1952, the entire business and
property was purchased by Richard Conn Sr., a graduate of the University of Mortuary
Science, Kansas City, Kansas and a Missouri licensed embalmer and funeral director.
The three-story brick house
located at 428 East Morgan, now known was the Conn Funeral Home, was popularly known since
1891 as the Walt Monroe residence. This home was one of the first built by Allen Thomas in
the Thomas first addition to the City of Tipton, approximately 92 years ago. It was
purchased in 1891 by Walt Monroe. The home was owned and maintained by the Monroe family
until it was purchased in 1950 for the use of the Conn Funeral Home.
In 1969 Richard D. Conn, Jr. and his wife, Diana Maynard Conn, joined in the operation of the Conn Services, following his graduation from the Louisville School of Embalming in Louisville, Kentucky.