About Us

Willia, F. Ohde, Ruth Ohde, Alison Ohde River

In 1905 William Ohde and his brother Jacob Ohde, formed a partnership and started the firm known as "Ohde Brothers Furniture and Undertaking" at 320 Main Street in Manning. This firm engaged in the furniture business and funeral directing. William Sr. earned a diploma from Hohenschuh-Carpenter College of Embalming in Des Moines in 1906. About a year later George Ohde took over the interest of his brother Jacob. In 1927 William and George purchased the undertaking business of Henry Mueller, which dated back to 1892. Following the death of George in May of 1929, William Ohde continued to operate the business which became known as Ohde Furniture Store.

In 1931 William, Sr. built the Ohde Funeral Home at 108 First Street in Manning. An open house was held when the funeral home opened and an estimated 3000 people toured through it in a two-day period. An annual event is the Christmas season lighting program which has attracted visitors from far and near.
William F. Ohde, William's son, attended the Hohenschuh-Carpenter School of Embalming in St. Louis, Missouri, and, upon graduation in 1938, joined his father as a licensed funeral director and embalmer.

Due to an ever-expanding funeral business, the furniture store was sold in 1951 so that more time could be devoted to the people of Manning and surrounding communities with the best of funeral service. William and William F. then formed a partnership. In 1955 William F. and Leonard Greteman established the Ohde-Greteman Funeral Home in Manilla. In August of 1963, when William F. Ohde bought the Huebner Funeral Home in Manilla, the Ohde-Greteman partnership was dissolved and the establishment took the name of Ohde Funeral Home.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the firm expanded and acquired the Mason Funeral Home in Coon Rapids and the Starling Funeral Home in Bayard. In 1971 a third generation Ohde, William G., joined the firm as a licensed funeral director and embalmer. In 1978 a daughter of William F., Ruth, joined the firm. Ruth completed the mortuary program at Southern Illinois University and returned to Manning, making three licensed funeral directors available to the area serviced by Ohde Funeral Home. In 1988 Ruth served as the first female president of the Iowa Funeral Directors Association. In 1997 Ruth Ohde purchased the business from her brother William G. Ohde, who subsequently retired from funeral directing.

Burke Johnson, a graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, then joined the firm as a funeral director. The addition of Burke to the staff as an experienced funeral director allowed Ohde Funeral Home to purchase the Steen Funeral Home in Kimballton in July of 1998. Burke left funeral service in 2006 to sell insurance.

In 2003 Ruth Ohde's daughter, Alison (Ohde) River, joined the firm as a mortuary student and in 2004 graduated from the Department of Mortuary Science at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado.  Alison was licensed in November of 2005 and joined her family as a fourth generation funeral director.

In February of 2007, Nathan Caviness joined the firm as a funeral director intern. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Mortuary Science Program, succesfully passed his National Boards and the Iowa Law and Rules exam. Nathan became fully licensed in February 2008.

The acquisition of Twit Funeral Home in Carroll in September of 2007 allowed us to add Tom Twit, an experienced funeral director, to our staff for a year. After Tom moved to Omaha in the Fall of 2008, Nathan and his wife Carrie moved to live and work at Ohde Twit Funeral Home in Carroll. Nathan will continue to work in all of our other facilities, as well.