HISTORY

In 1916 Irving Wagner founded the Wagner Funeral Home and Furniture Store on Michigan Avenue in Big Rapids. It was told that for awhile he had sold a lot more furniture than assisting in funeral arrangements. By 1929 however, he had decided to buy a corner lot on Warren and Elm. First he had to move the building that was on the lot down the street a few blocks and then proceeded to build the largest building designated to be a funeral home between Grand Rapids and Traverse City. The naysayers were quick to point out that the area could not support a funeral home of that size and Wagner was determined to prove them wrong.  Through hard work and self sacrifice Irving Wagner not only proved them wrong but also set a standard of service to the community that continues to this day, almost a hundred years later.

In 1955, a farm boy was walking down the street in his hometown near St. Johns Michigan contemplating his dream of finishing out his senior year in high school and joining the seminary to become a Lutheran minister. As he walked by the small town’s funeral home, the owner and funeral director called out, “Aren’t you one of the Mohnke boys”. A conversation started and Ron Mohnke was asked if he would like to earn some extra money after school by mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes and helping out around the funeral home before heading home to his farm chores. After getting approval from his parents, Ron Mohnke was introduced to the necessary world of assisting bereaved families celebrate the life of their deceased.

A tragic twist of fate happened in May of 1955 that changed Ron’s life forever but not his faith. He was working at the funeral home when there was a call, something had happened on his grandfather’s farm and the ambulance , which was stationed at funeral homes back then, was called. After an agonizing wait at the hospital a nurse came out and told Ron he needed to go to the farm. When Ron arrived and dozens of people had gathered around his mom, Ron watched as a tractor pulled up with a trailer carrying the bodies of his father and older brother. They had been struck by lightning as they walked across the field to the barn after leaving their tractors during a sudden storm.

Ron, being seventeen and now responsible for helping his widowed mother and his younger siblings, left his vision of the ministry behind. His strong Christian faith un-shattered by the tragedy helped him through those hard times. The funeral director became his mentor and Ron decided that his faith could help others as they prepare to leave this world for the glory of Christ. Ron became an apprentice in Lansing and in 1960 graduated from the Wayne State School of Mortuary Science.  After working in Flint and Dearborn, Ron entered a partnership in 1972 with Harry Rogers who had bought the funeral home in Big Rapids from Irving Wagner in 1942. In 1979, Ron became only the third owner of the business since 1916.

Ron’s son Mike had helped his dad with chores around the funeral home since he was a boy. Mike graduated high school in 1978 and received his bachelors’ degree in business administration from Ferris State in 1981. In 1984 Mike graduated from the same school of mortuary science as his father and joined him as a partner. He  is now only the fourth owner of the business. The standards that were set by Irving Wagner and carried on by Harry Rogers are now just as strong. Membership on Community Boards and Civic groups continues and their strong faith is evident in the churches they attend. Mike and his father believe that grief is a process that can be helped by a person with a strong relationship with God and that bereavement should be a celebration of the life and not a regret of the death. Quoting St. Paul, elder Mohnke sums it up by saying “To live is Christ. To die is gain”.