About Us
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.
The addition of additional staff allowed Ohde Funeral Home to purchase the Steen Funeral Home in Kimballton in July of 1998 and Ohde Twit Funeral Home in 2007.
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.
Scott Erickson and Michael Hoy purchased the funeral home in November of 2019. Scott, Mike and their staff are continuing to serve the Manning, Manilla, Kimballton and Coon Rapids communities with a tradition of honesty, integrity and dignity.