All of John P.'s sons, Clun, Harry, and John, were involved in some capacity. Clun became an apprentice to his father in 1913 to learn embalming techniques. John began his work here at the age of 15 and went on to graduate from William Mortuary School in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1929. Clun and John later ran the business together and were both involved in community organizations.
Harry worked the floor covering part of the furniture business until it closed. He and his wife, Bess, resided in the upstairs apartment of the funeral home until 1966. She served for many years as accompanist for funerals.
One long-time employee, Morris Kelley, groomed and kept the team of carriage horses that pulled the early-day hearses. Price Funeral Home also provided the ambulance service during that time, a service they continued until the Nodaway County Ambulance District was formed in 1970.
Additions were made to the original 1929 building in 1963. In 1987, offices were added, and a new front was given to the structure.
In addition to physical changes, the funeral home also experienced changes in personnel. They looked beyond the Price family when Philip Bram and Richard Dowden became stockholders in the corporation. Philip continued to be associated with the funeral home until suffering a stroke in 1996. After that, his health dictated that Richard and his wife, Patty, become the sole owners.
Over the years, many things have changed in the mortuary industry, but the standards of care from the people at Price Funeral Home have stayed the same. As Clun stated in a 1981 article, “As individuals and as a firm, we have tried to stand for everything good for our county and our community.”
Excerpts taken from an April 19, 2007, article in the Nodaway News Leader.