The Funeral Business

[Editor note: Again, I abandon 1957 for a look at Glenn Hoplin's reminiscences, this focused on the early Hoplin funeral business which started soon after Ole Hoplin and his Nelson brothers-in-law acquired the hardware business in Lowry in 1916.  It was Lowry Hardware, Machinery & Furniture Co.  Since, the main furniture items were coffins - it was was a logical to provide a  "full service" - hence ...]

Ole Hoplin attended the University of Minnesota School of Mortuary Science in Minneapolis in 1920 when it was a six month course granting an embalmer’s license.  Up to that point, embalming was done by Herman Berry of Glenwood.  At that time the U of M accepted students with an 8^th grade education.  Paul Albinson was a classmate of Ole’s, which later proved to be advantageous to his offspring. [Editor note:  Oliver, Glenn & Paul all worked for Albinson Funeral Home in Minneapolis while attending college.]

U of M mortuary class 1920 - Ole Hoplin on right

In the early days most of the embalming was done in homes – a folding embalming table and a large suit case carrier containing instruments, bottles of embalming fluid and receiving bottles.  Cosmetics were in a separate case.  

The first Hoplin hearse was a horse-drawn vehicle with glass sides purchased from the Nelson Funeral Home in Brooten.  It had runners that would replace the large solid rubber tired wheels for winter use.  This hearse is now in the Pope County Historical Society in Glenwood, MN.  

In those days, the funeral service was normally held in the home, followed by a procession to the church for services and burial.   

The 2^nd Hoplin hearse was a motor driven Studebaker 1920 chassis.  It had a carved wood body with double doors to the rear.  The lower level had rollers for the casket.  The upper deck was used for hauling flowers, lowering devices and various necessary equipment.  There was a hinged, glass divider behind the driver’s seat for access to the upper level, with a hanging strap for raising or lowering the glass.  There was also a curtain that could be lowered so that the material on the upper deck could be hidden from view.  The Studebaker chassis proved to be unreliable so the carved body was transferred to a Dodge Brothers, 1925 truck chassis.   The Dodge had a 12 volt igniting system and a transmission backward from the standard of the time – low,  upper left; second, lower right; high, upper right; reverse, lower left.  This vehicle proved to be very dependable and its high clearance made it excellent in snow conditions.

This hearse was used until 1936, when a Chrysler 2-door car was purchased for $895, to be rebuilt into a hearse.  It was in the spring, graduation time, and Oliver used it that night.  That was exciting.  A deal was made with a Fergus Falls body shop to convert this car into a combination hearse & ambulance.  The car was cut in two behind the door post and another door was hung on the rear half of the car.  All car parts had to be extended: roof, drive shaft, hydraulic brake lines, wiring and frame.  The rear seat was removed and a flat roof installed with casket rollers and a side loading hearse was created.  

Ambulance service was now added to the business repertoire.  The unit was used to transport many patients, often to Minneapolis.  Charges were $5 for the call and 5 cents / mile.  The floor had an anchor hook for securing the ambulance cot and a socket for an ambulance attendant seat.  Part of the agreement with the body shop was to also convert the 1925 Dodge hearse into a pickup.   The total contract amount was $895.

Funerals were staffed by Lowry Hardware personnel and the Hoplin children, who often removed themselves from school to assist.  In those days the undertaker furnished the cemetery equipment – a lowering device, artificial grass around the grave and over the dirt pile.  A pine rough box was provided and lowered into the grave prior to the service.  Sometimes the size of the hole was miscalculated and some digging was necessary.  The rough boxes were trimmed with hinges for the cover and a rope so the cover could be closed when the casket was lowered into it.  Apparently Oliver knew he wanted to be an undertaker from grade school on, so he was the good help.

The 1927 home was built with the funeral business in mind.  The house had a preparation room in the basement and a basement entrance on the south-east.  After city water became available in 1938, the huge cisterns were demolished and the laundry moved to the north-east corner, formerly occupied by the cistern.  The concrete forming the cisterns had to be carried out.  Some was used to fill the 3’ below basement space of the cisterns.  The basement room on the south became the casket display room.  These were displayed on racks fabricated from pipe and designed so one casket could be displayed close to the floor and another above could be displayed open.  All caskets were covered with a cloth casket cover when not on display.

Dad had a funeral in Brandon on Christmas Eve sometime in the 30’s.  The roads between Brandon and Lowry were totally blocked, but Dad wanted to get home for Christmas.  He managed to get to Alexandria by train and Uncle Sam Nelson, who lived in Alexandria, drove him to the Highway 29 Soo Line crossing north of Glenwood.  From there he walked the tracks – 7 miles – to Lowry, carrying his embalming equipment.  For those familiar with the spot, remember this was before Trunk Highway 55 was constructed.  There were only the railroad tracks to Lowry.

In 1946, the Berry Funeral Home of Glenwood, MN was purchased.  [Editor note:  Berry is a great name for a funeral business.]  It consisted of an old house, to which Herman Berry had added a long garage to the east where cars and hearses were parked in tandem.  It had a flat room and doors on both ends.  Oliver felt there should be some identifying sign, so he purchased a large neon sign that had hung on the wall of Enga Funeral Home in north Minneapolis.  The sign, in large blue neon letters glowed FUNERAL HOME.  Leif Dahl and I hauled the sign to Glenwood and placed it on the roof of the garage of the funeral home.  We connected up the power supply and made it operational.  A screw driver rolled off the sign and smashed the letters HOME.  Mission completed, but very disappointing.      
[Editor note: Luckily the smashed letters weren't "ERAL"