History of Funeral Care
Presentation to the Annandale
History Club
February 6, 2006
Art Dingmann
Art Dingmann is the owner of Dingmann Funeral Care in Annandale,
Kimball, and Maple Lake. He said that in the 1800s funeral directors
were called undertakers, because they would undertake the care of the
dead. Undertakers
were connected with the making of the casket, usually a box, and
therefore were the owners of a hardware store, lumber yard, sawmill or
furniture store. Up
until 1960, the Dunton family of Annandale were owners of a hardware
store and funeral parlor.
Body preparation and visitation (called wakes) were held in the home. Wakes
are so named because people stayed awake all night near the dead. Embalming
was not done prior to the Civil War. Cooling boards with ice beneath
were used for preservation of the body. During
the Civil War preservation was necessary to send bodies home, so
surgeons did embalming. Embalming
preserves and disinfects tissues. Previously,
many diseases of the dead affected the living (TB, influenza). Also
bodies with communicable diseases in the cemetery affected the living
through ground water.
Embalming keeps the body for weeks or months, maybe six months. Present
day medical school students and funeral director students use cadavers
for up to five years. Early
preservation used powders or arsenic, and early embalming was done with
arsenic fluid. Today
the main ingredient in embalming fluid is formaldehyde. During
WWII, bodies shipped home probably were embalmed. Ship
casualties were dropped overboard. Circumstances
of war dictated what was done.
Art's grandfather was a blacksmith in Clear
Lake, Minnesota. He
was an undertaker and cared for the dead in the late 1800s. He
had a horse drawn hearse. Art's
father came back and worked in the hardware and funeral home in Clear
Lake. Five
Dingmann brothers were in the business. Four
brothers were drafted during the war. Art's
dad was older. He
moved to Kimball and ran the hardware store, implement business and
funeral home, which was started in the 1930s. The
brothers spouses ran the business in Clear Lake during the war years.
Art's father was Francis, known as F.E. or
Franz Dingmann. He ended up owning the funeral home in Kimball. Art
graduated from Kimball High School in 1969 and the University of
Minnesota in 1973.
E. H. Dunton was also funeral director in Annandale. His
son Edwin "Tubber" Dunton
later owned the funeral home. In
1929 banks were having trouble. McDonald's
bank closed (located
in the present day lawyers' office). McDonald
and Sawyer teamed up in a bank where Zahler's
Studio is now located. The
empty bank was turned into a funeral home in 1929. Prior
to that the prep room was in the back of the hardware store and then the
body was taken back to the home for the wake. Eventually
the funeral home evolved to where the wake took place. 1930-1950
some wakes were still held in the home, but there was the option to have
it at the funeral home. The
hardware store was at one time known as Dunton-Radcliffe Hardware. The
funeral home was called E. H. Dunton & Sons. Tubber
Dunton ran an ambulance until 1960. There
was a cot in the hearse. Hearses
had dual use. They
put a red light on top and it became an ambulance.
There was a connection between the Dunton and Muller families. Mrs.
Edwin Dunton was sister to Ray Muller's
mother. Ray
Muller's mother and dad were funeral directors
in Maple Lake. Ray's
mother did the embalming. His
grandmother was the first woman embalmer in the state. Prior
to 1955 the funeral director license and embalmer's
licenses were separate.
When Dub Ferrell of Annandale was a student at the University of
Minnesota, he saw an ad for a funeral home looking for help. Gill
Brothers in Richfield needed someone to live in the building. Phones
needed to be answered 24/7. This
was prior to answering services. Dub
and another person worked part time, answered phones and did other work
in exchange for a place to live. This
is how he became interested in being a funeral director.
In 1960 Dub Ferrell bought the Dunton funeral business in Annandale and
operated it in the lawyers' building
until 1970 when he built a new building. The
present funeral home is 36 years old. Art
Dingmann purchased the Annandale business in 1980. He
purchased the Kimball and Maple Lake funeral homes in 1976. His
brother Doug Dingmann operates the funeral homes in Clear Lake and Sauk
Rapids. Art
said that it is very expensive to get into the funeral business. Corporations
pay big bucks for established funeral homes. It's
hard to get into the business unless you have some family connections
because equipment and buildings are very expensive.
Questions:
What is the hardest part of the business? Art said that the most
difficult part is seeing the grief of the living (mothers who lose their
children and grieving spouses who have lost a long time mate). Dealing
with the dead body doesn't compare to that,
although there are unpleasant conditions at times. The
funeral profession loses a lot of people that get burned out. Business
in a small town is 24/7, holidays included. It's
common to be awakened at 2:00 a.m. There
are many second career people with degrees in something else becoming
non-traditional students and going
into the funeral business.
Who orders an autopsy? Every
county has a medical examiner or coroner. They
decide. Any
death of a younger person in good health, there's
going to be an autopsy. Accidents
and suspicion of foul play require autopsies. The
current coroner is Dr. Janis Amatuzio, Anoka County. The
autopsies are done at Mercy Hospital.
Not long ago, many doctors were coroners. Dr.
Bendix was a great one. Now
there are specialized forensic pathologists. There
aren't nearly as many autopsies now as years
ago. At one
time, hospitals were rated on the percentage of autopsies they did. Wright
County has deputy coroners, people with medical backgrounds or
investigative backgrounds. They
go to the scene of the death and take blood samples, photos and ask
questions. They
make judgments whether an autopsy is necessary. Usually
registered hospice or nursing home deaths don't
require a coroner, unless there is a fall. The
coroner's office is notified, but they don't
have to come to the scene. Sometimes
autopsies were done at funeral homes. Now
hospitals have the equipment needed for x-rays and tests. The
county pays for autopsies they deem necessary. If
families want a second independent opinion, they pay for that
themselves.
Is embalming needed for cremations? Embalming
is required for bodies that are publicly viewed, have communicable
diseases, or disposition is more than 72 hours away. Cremains
do not have to be buried in the ground. There
are 30% cremations in the Annandale facility. Cremations
are done at the Sauk Rapids Crematorium A
Titanium label with number attached to the body, witnessed by a family
member, is required. One
body is cremated at a time. Most
cremains are buried in a cemetery. Woodlawn
allows two on top of previous burials or two in one purchased lot. Art
Dingmann recommends burial of cremains instead of scattering, so
families have a place to visit. Cremations
may be less costly, but it depends on the services provided. Generally,
there is not much difference in price if there is a visitation.
How long have vaults been required? Vaults have been required since the mid-1960s. Vaults keep the earth from sinking as with wood boxes.
See the Funeral Parlor at Annandale's Minnesota Pioneer Park.