At 16, John Kreidler was driving an ambulance, actually a 1956 Pontiac hearse with a single cherry red light on top. That duty was a given in the family that started Kreidler Undertaking in 1912 in the backroom of McAllen’s Western Union office.

In the 1960s, the teenaged Kreidler decided he was not going to become a funeral director, primarily because of the round-the-clock demands of the ambulance service, a common adjunct of funeral homes in the days before towns developed EMS.

“We lived across from the funeral home, and the phone extension was at our house.  Dad (Maynard Kreidler) would get a call at lunch, at Thanksgiving dinner, and run to get the ambulance.  He hardly ever took a vacation, so I made the decision if he had the ambulance service, I wouldn’t come in.”

But when the senior Kreidler announced he was closing down the funeral home if his son didn’t want it, the  ambulance business was gone. So John Kreidler separated from the Air Force in 1972 and returned as the fourth generation running Kreidler Funeral home.

“It’s a business where you have to enjoy helping people. Families that go for generations (in the business) see themselves providing services to families and the community,” John Kreidler said.

While nationally only two percent or so of family businesses endure for three generations, funeral homes exceed the norm.

“It’s not uncommon for then to go past three generations. We’re blessed to go with five so far.  I learned a lot from my father. “Likewise his son William, who became a funeral director in 2002, is learning from his father and bringing his own generational input.

With June marking 100 years of the family business, John Kreidler reflected on the traditions that have changed through the years. In the early days, Kreidler Undertaking took folding chairs to the family’s house for the wake and gathering.  Before the funeral home concept, undertakers took their equipment and embalmed bodies at the homes of the deceased.

In 1961, Maynard Kreidler bought a house on what had been the Jones farm on Tenth Street. His wife chose the powder blue color for the distinctive hearses.  The pale blue lightens people’s spirits amid the somberness of a funeral, Kreidler said. Blocks of ice were used to cool the Kreidler chapel before air conditioning was installed.  And the paying of respects was more universal years ago, too.

“My dad told us if he ever saw us not pulling over for anybody’s funeral procession, we’d lose our license for a while.”

Just-in-time logistics managers could learn from Kreidler.  The usual time from death to burial is only three to four days.  “I want the logisitics to work as close to perfect as possible, no matter the funeral they elect for us to help them with,” he said.

For more on this story by Eileen Mattei, pick up a copy of the February edition of Valley Business Report, on news stands now, or visit the “Current & Past Issues” tab on this Web site.