Bill Peck and Scott Tucker with the horse-drawn hearse. Through the years the funeral service had several helpers and sometimes called on the family or neighbors of the deceased to dig a grave. In winter’s hard freeze it could be problematical. Herald and James Petry, Shiek Clement and others were Tucker’s employees.

By Beverly Clinkingbeard

In 1913, the Westboro newspaper, The Enterprise, said, “Westboro is getting to be quite progressive. A new cement crossing has been put in by the town pump, and the streets are being graded.”

As well, the Tucker name began appearing in the Westboro news in 1913. As new business owners of the general store, the town folk welcomed the new residents from Clarence, Missouri, with invites to dinner. A.R. and Nona Tucker, a son, Scott, and daughter, Blanche, made the keeping of Tucker’s Store a family affair. Scott married Martha Schipes of Clarence, and she joined the family business. She was experienced in retail merchandising. The store featured a full line of grocery and dry goods items, as well as furnishings.

Blanche clerked at the store until 1939 when she became Westboro’s postmaster. The post office was located on the north side of Main Street in the former Farmer’s Bank building and much of the bank setting was retained with postal business being conducted through a barred window. Blanche served until retirement in 1961.

However, the town didn’t have a mortuary or “undertaking service.” Seeing a business opportunity and community need, Scott Tucker attended the Williams School of Mortuary Science in Kansas City to prepare for the new aspect of business. The Tuckers invested in equipment and a horse drawn hearse to serve their customers. The upper floor of the general store was storage for caskets that were shipped in by train. They built a self-enclosed elevator on the side of the store to haul the caskets up or down as the need arose.

In the early days, funerals were generally held in the home. Embalming was also in the home. However, not everyone’s home could accommodate what would be in some cases, a large gathering. For church members there was the church and the Tuckers’ living room was also a gathering place. For a time, Tucker’s maintained a store in Blanchard as a place for funerals and to keep their “stock of undertaking.” Their ad also said, “We have Puthuff and Thogmartin to answer calls in Blanchard. They also have charge of stock at Blanchard. Auto hearse and everything that it takes to carry out an up-to-date funeral. Service night or day.” In Blanchard, Elva Bean was employed by some families for the “wake” (to sit with the deceased throughout the night).

J.D. Wells, M.D., physician and surgeon, had an office on the upper floor of the Tucker building, and advertised to “Answer calls promptly day or night.”

Tucker’s transitioned to an automobile hearse but maintained the horse-drawn hearse in the event of inclement weather. There were few cemeteries located on all-weather roads. Though they had the hearse they did not maintain a team, but relied on the livery or a local’s team to pull it.

Tuckers were noted for their quick response when a family called of a death and for managing a dignified funeral. Scott and Martha were the parents of a son, Robert, and a daughter, Martha Ann. Robert assisted in the mortuary business and Martha Ann often clerked at the store. Not all patrons were able to pay for a funeral, and in some cases, there was no one to cover the expense. The funeral home absorbed the cost. A “potter’s field” was utilized at Center Grove Cemetery. Then there were families who paid as they could, some as little as $5 a payment. All were offered the same respect. Scott also served as Atchison County Coroner for a time.

Tucker’s updated their vehicles and adapted to trends of the time. However, time has a way of chasing everyone down. In 1962 the Tuckers celebrated 48 years of being in business and by 1965 it was time for the Tuckers to retire. They had served the community well. Martha died in 1969 and Scott in 1982. They are buried in the cemetery that the funeral service had frequented often, Center Grove, south of Westboro on State Hwy. O.

My thanks to Martha Ann Tucker Marriott for contributing information.

’Til next time . . .