Richardson Funeral Service



Brown Furniture and Undertaking was established in 1862 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The primary endeavor in those early years was the construction of furniture and coffins. Eldridge M. Brown was joined by his son, E.M. Brown, in the 1890s and Mr. Parker joined the organization around 1901 and the business was known as Brown & Parker. Parker left the business around 1909 when W.F. Nobel entered into the partnership and the name changed to Nobel and Brown. Harry E. Brown joined his father, E.M. Brown, in 1913 upon Nobel's departure and the name was changed to Brown & Son. Harry Brown was joined in the late 1930s by his nephew, Frederick Brown, who later assumed ownership and was joined by T. Waldo Jungkunz in the Brown-Jungkunz Funeral Home. In 1948 Mr. Brown sold his interest in the concern to V.S. Nelson and the name changed to Jungkunz-Nelson. In 1952 Mr. Jungkunz left the partnership and Mr. Nelson continued on as Nelson Funeral Home. In 1961, V.S. Nelson, Joseph L. Nelson and Robert R. Richardson formed a corporate partnership. V.S. Nelson's son, Joe, left the partnership in 1965 and Mr. Nelson sold his interest in 1970 to Mr. Richardson. Donald J. Richardson, son of Robert, joined the firm in September of 1972 following his mortuary science education. Robert Richardson died in February 1972. Don continues operating the concern to this time as Richardson Funeral Service. Many dedicated funeral professionals have served families with our firm over the 138 years since it's founding. Michael J. Sulentic has been a Licensed Funeral Director with the firm since 1993 and joins Don Richardson in it's operation.

The first location of the firm was situated at 124 Main Street. Several other locations were used on Main Street until the furniture store was relocated to the present Simpson Furniture Store location in the five hundred block of Main Street in 1927. (The original building burned to the ground in 1983.) At the time of the furniture store move, the funeral parlor was relocated to the Brown family home at 420 Washington Street where it remained until a chapel was constructed within the furniture store building. In 1936, the Browns purchased the Severin home at 615 Main Street for use as their funeral facility. The building, built in 1890, is of Classic Queen Anne architecture and is the present site of the Richardson Funeral Service.