1940s: Smith’s Funeral Home provided ambulance and transport service

Jack Kretzer of Yuma, Ariz., formerly of Hannibal, called with a memory about Smith Funeral Home, which is featured today on this website.

When Jack was in eighth grade he fell at a Boy Scout meeting, and the ball and socket of his left hip came apart. Dr. Murphy treated Jack, and the teen ended up in a body cast for his entire eighth-grade year. “When I had to go somewhere, Smith’s Funeral Home came and got me with their hearse,” Jack said. He lived at 602 Flora, with steep front steps and no railing.

He was invited to a party at Shirley Darnell’s house. “They didn’t have paramedics and firemen like they do today,” Jack said. So the funeral home sent out their gurney to get him down the steps, and the hearse to transport him to the party and back.

To read more about the Smith Funeral Home legacy, click here