|
In Ohio in 1932, during some of the darkest
days of the Great Depression, Paul Frederick Sr. decide
to make a career change that would have a profound effect
on his family for years to come.
 Paul
Sr. for many years had been in the home furnishings
business. He decided to become a Funeral Director. He
had not attended any mortuary school and had limited
exposure to the Funeral Home business. This was a completely
new venture for him.
After living in Price hill for many
years, Paul Sr. bought a home at 18 Calhoun St. near
St. George Church, in Corryville, Ohio. The family lived on
the second floor and the Funeral Home was on the first
floor. This was also Paul Jr’s. early introduction
to the funeral home business. The operation back then
was quite different that it is today.
Back in the 30’s, some people had visitations
at the home of the deceased. It also seemed that many
of the people lived on the second floor in those days
and you had to carry the casket up many stairs. It was
also prevalent in those days to do what was called invalid
coach service. If someone had to go to the hospital
they’d call the funeral home for transportation
to and from the hospital. There was no charge for this
service.
After the war, society in general
was going through tremendous changes and Corryville
was no exception. This was the beginning of a population
movement, in the 50’s and 60’s. The city
had instituted their Urban Renewal Plan. The area around
and including the funeral home was marked for absorption.
Frederick Funeral Home had attempted
to find a new location in the Corryville, Ohio area. They
soon became aware that the Corryville area was changing
faster then anticipated, and they had to move. They
looked at the Banning Road Property in June 1961 and
they decided to purchase the property. One of the many
features of the property was the space available for
parking, which was needed in Colerain Township.
 After
purchasing the property. Renovation began the day after
Labor Day in 1961, and it opened for operation in March
of 1962. When they moved out here, it was like starting
over. The distance of 7 miles between the two funeral
homes was sizable. At that time there were already two
funeral homes in the Township. In Colerain Township,
they started out cool but not cold. Today Frederick
Funeral Home is the only funeral home in Colerain Township.
Frederick's operated both homes during
the 60’s. Paul Sr. continued to live at the Calhoun
location until he passed away in 1969. They closed the
Calhoun operation in February of 1970 and by mid March
the City had it demolished.
From the early 60’s, Paul Jr.
was the driving force behind the two funeral homes.
Paul Jr. and his wife Patricia, had five daughters.
The second oldest daughter (Sandy) came into the business,
and was licensed in 1970 and the fourth daughter (Lynn),
came into the business, after getting her license in
1976. The third daughter’s son (Rob), Paul’s
grandson came into the business after getting his license
in 1997.
Today, Frederick Funeral Home in its
fourth generation is growing year by year. The business
philosophy passed down by generation to generation is
still being practiced today.
|
