History of Our Funeral Homes

In 1874 Bernard J. Hogenkamp, a native of Holland, establishes a furniture and undertaking business with partner Mr. Kohner on N. Frankfort St. in Minster. A few years later Bernard Hogenkamp partnered with Joseph Knostman. They in turn ran a Furniture and Undertaking Business in Minster.  In 1903 the building which is the present day funeral home was built at 61 S. Hanover St. Joseph Knostman continued in the furniture business. Bernard Hogenkamp remained as funeral director. In 1910 his son Nicholas J., after completion of courses at a Cincinnati embalming school joined his father’s business. In 1932 Nicholas P., passed his embalmer’s examination at Cleveland University and joined his father in the business. In 1956 Nicholas A. joins his father in business and in 1980 Nicholas C. joined his father in the firm.

In 1960 the Romer Funeral Home in St. Henry is purchased. The Early History of the funeral home in St. Henry dates back to Fred Goettemoeller, who operated his business until sold to Henry Schmidt, who sold it a short while after that to Harry & Harold Romer. In 1921 Stanley Romer became a partner in the business with Harry Romer. Eventually Stanley Romer became sole owner and operator and moved the funeral business to its present location on Main Street. Nicholas P. Hogenkamp purchased the funeral home from Stanley Romer on July 11, 1960. He ran the funeral home from 1960-1963, in 1963 his son B. Jay Hogenkamp joined the business and began managing the funeral home. Larry Heitkamp joined the firm in 1966 and is currently still there.

In 1965 the G. P. Desch Funeral Home in Coldwater is acquired. The Funeral Home in Coldwater was founded in 1900 by Joseph R. Desch. In 1934 he sold his business to his son G.P. Desch, who operated it for 31 years. On March 30, 1975 the funeral home was moved to its current location. The funeral home has been managed since 1965 by B. Jay Hogenkamp, with his son Brian joining the firm in 1993 and his son Scott joining the firm in 2000.           

In 2003 the Lehman Funeral Home in Celina, Ohio is purchased from Mike Lehman with Steve Dzendzel as director. The funeral home located at 901 Myers Rd and operates as the Lehman-Hogenkamp-Dzendzel Funeral Home. The former Celina Vale Funeral Home was founded in 1923 by Clair W. Vale and operated as Vale Funeral Home for many years. When Wilbur E. Stein became a partner in the funeral home in 1945, it was known as the Vale & Stein Funeral Home, located at the corner of Livingston and Ash Streets. Vale retired in 1960 and Michael Lehman started in 1961 while in high school, becoming a partner of the firm in 1972. The firm was then known as Vale-Stein-Lehman Funeral Home. When the business moved to the Myers Road facility in July 1979, the name Vale was dropped and the name Stein subsequently was dropped in 1985, following the retirement of Stein in 1981.

In 2009 the Hogenkamp Funeral Home in Russia, Ohio is opened with Scott Hogenkamp as director.