Kurrus Funeral Home - Our Family Serving Your Family Since 1883

    Joseph Anton Kurrus (1 of 10 children) born February 13, 1840 in Edingden Baden, Germany to Frank Joseph Kurrus and Josefa nee Klorer. Joseph's oldest brothers, Joseph August Kurrus and Konstantine Kurrus, left Germany for the U.S. in 1850. Joseph followed 10 years later with his parents and 4 brothers and sisters, leaving Havre, Germany on the William Frothingham around Christmas 1860 (Voyage of 50 days, 40 of which were stormy) and arrived in New York on February 12, 1861, the same year as East St Louis was incorporated.

Joseph Anton did not wait for work to find him, he began as a carpenter, and worked on the Terre Haute R.R. for 12 years. While working on the R.R., he met Elizabeth Johannes, born 1839 in Darmstadt, Germany, and also migrated to the U.S. on the ship Japara, leaving Antwerp, Germany and arriving in New York on May 30, 1864 and they married November 5, 1865. In 1873 they started a grocery business on the corner of 4th and Market Street. Elizabeth died giving childbirth on September 20, 1880 leaving Joseph Anton with 5 children under the age of 8.

    Joseph met a widow Mary Susan nee Rosenthal Mounton (first husband John Mounton), and married her in 1882 and her daughter, Nellie Marie Mounton, was 4 years old. On March 17, 1883 Joseph Anton purchased Meyer- Strotham-Mertz Livery and Undertaking Company.

In 1889 during Mayor Stephen's administration, the City of East St Louis decided to raise the street 10 feet because of the flooding. Some areas of the city were raised 13 feet, which saved most of the city during future floods. This covered the doors of the original building so an addition was added to have street access and ramps were installed so the buggies could be driven down to what became the basement.

In May of 1886, Frank J. Kurrus, eldest son of Joseph, joined the firm as the accountant and on January 1, 1892 the fifth child, Charles G. Kurrus Sr. joined the firm. On July 16, 1893 Joseph and Mary gave birth to Aurelia. (8 children between Joseph and Elizabeth, 1 child between Joseph and Mary (Aurelia), and 1 child between Mary and first husband John (Nellie). On May 26, 1896 while the firm was celebrating its 13th anniversary, a cyclone hit East St Louis leaving thousands of people homeless and numerous people injured and killed. In 1898 at St. Henry Church in East St Louis, Charles Sr. married Anna J. Markert. In 1900 a new livery and undertaking building was built at 315-317 North 9th street, and the company used both buildings until December 31, 1907, when the 3rd street building was abandoned. During this time Joseph and Charles went to the individuals home and did the preparation in the basements or back room. The bodies were then dressed and casketed for the wake (visitation) and the services which all took place in the home. Around 1915 most of the preparation took place at the Funeral Home, but most of the visitation and services still took place at home. The Funeral Home did have a chapel where people could gather for services if the family requested.

    In 1902 Charles G. Kurrus Sr. began studying intricate techniques of embalming through a correspondence course and received the 472 license for embalming issued in the State of Illinois (which is before the requirement date of 1905). He was the first licensed Funeral Director and embalmer in East StLouis. In 1904 they purchased a grandfather clock in St. Louis during the Worlds Fair and can still be seen 100 years later at the Funeral Home.

 Charles Sr. and Anna had 4 children, a stillborn girl in 1899, Viola Mae Kurrus born 1900, Charles Gustav Kurrus Jr. born 1902 and Anna Clara Kurrus born 1905 who passed away at age 10. Charles Sr. would tell his son Charles Jr. stories about the series of rainstorms in 1903 that nearly drowned East St. Louis. The flood was so bad Charles Sr. had to take a boat to work. He also told a story about a giant that died while working at the Worlds Fair in 1904, that was 8 feet tall and his father (Charles Sr.) had to build a special coffin for him.

During the 27th anniversary in 1910 they acquired the first motorized funeral equipment in East St Louis and people had a choice between a horse drawn hearse or a motorized hearse until around 1917 when all motorized vehicles were used. This made the change from Kurrus Stables to Kurrus Garage. In1915 they purchased a Moon Ambulance, which was the first motorized ambulance in East St Louis.

    In July of 1917 a bloody outbreak of violence occurred, stemming from employments of black workers in a factory holding government contracts. This was the worst incident of racial direst in the United States during WWI. There were around 40 blacks killed and around 10 whites which we buried a few of them. At that time Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States.

    In 1922 Viola Kurrus Vogt, eldest child of Charles Sr., became associated with the company as secretary and treasurer and developed the record numbering system that we are still using today.

In 1923 Charles G. Kurrus Jr. graduated form the university of Illinois where he met Mable Knauer. After graduating from Worsham School of Mortuary Science in Chicago in 1926 , he joined the firm and then married Mable Knauer, in DuQuoin, Illinois, on June 12, 1926 at the 1st Baptist Church in DuQuoin, IL. Charles Jr. and Mable had 4 children, Jane, Suzanne, Charles III and Thomas Kurrus. That same year they realized that the ninth street location had become inadequate for the expanding business and plans were made for a new home.

    On August 15, 1926, they announced the ground breaking of the new location at 2525 State Street and on Sunday, July 24, 1927, 11 months later, the new building was formally opened. This Georgia Colonial building was one of the first buildings specially designed for funeral services. The building had a 350 seat chapel, reposing rooms, special private family room adjoining the chapel with a private entrance and exit, music room with a manual pipe organ and special arrangements for singers, ladies lounge and men's smoker rooms, and an unusually large casket display room. The elevator serving a 4 floor level could be utilized for invalids and wheel chair patients who wish to attend the funeral home. Three large apartments on the upper level were used for Kurrus family and ambulance personnel. A private parking lot adjoining the funeral home had a special driveway alongside of the building where family cars and those of their friends may easily join a procession. A large garage housing around 20 vehicles, such as hearses, limousines, ambulances and med-cars, placed in the rear of the facility provided easy access to the basement by ramp or elevator to reach the embalming room. Even though this facility was designed for visitation and funerals, there were still people that wished to have visitation and services at their home. This went on until around 1935 where maybe a dozen have occurred until present.

    Charles G. Kurrus III graduated from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. and then graduated from his fathers Alma Mater in Chicago, and then joined the business in the mansion on State Street in 1957.  Charles, also known as Gus, a nickname given to him by his sisters because he was the third Charles living, married Jacqueline Kinsman in 1957. On December 8, 1964, Charles G. Kurrus Sr. passed away at the age of 91. Charles & Jackie had three children: Dean, Dale and Kristi. After Charles and Jackie married they lived in one of the apartments above the funeral home until 1962 when they purchased a home in Belleville, which they still live today.

In 1970 Charles Jr. and Charles III realized that their clientele was moving to surrounding areas, so they began to investigate possible locations to move the business for the 3rd time. In 1971 they purchased land on North 57th Street in Belleville and opened the building at 657 N. 57th street on January 8, 1972. This street was renamed in 2002 to Frank Scott Parkway West. Funerals were held at either location and in 1974 with only 2 burials taking place in east St Louis, they decided to close that location. In 1976 the building was sold to the State of Illinois. In 1987 the building was torn down and a National food store was built which later became Schnucks.

In May 1980 the local cemetery Union workers went on strike. This became a problem because no burials were allowed in 5 cemeteries. The strike continued for 3 months until the courts ordered the cemeteries to bury. By this time Kurrus Funeral Home had over 40 bodies stored in sealed caskets in storage racks at the Funeral Home. Families suffered by not being able to finalize the loss of their loved ones by burial. Finally by the end of July, the cemetery workers started digging graves and Kurrus Funeral Home was burying 7 and 8 people a day starting form the earliest. This went on for about 2 weeks because many family members had returned home and had to travel back to Belleville.

Dale A. Kurrus joined the firm on  August 6, 1983 on the firms 100th anniversary, as a Funeral Director after attending Greenville College for 3 years studying business courses and then graduating from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale Mortuary Science Program. Dale married Lisa Sanders in 1990 and have 2 children, Megan and Shane. Dale is the 5th generation to go into the family business and continues to carry the same quality of tradition as generations before him.