Edward Eugene Minerd
(1899-1935) and the
Minerd
Funeral Home
Edward
Eugene Minerd was born on Jan. 11, 1899 in Dunbar, Fayette County, PA, the son of Rev.
David E. and Catherine (Williams) Minerd. During his short life, he founded the well-known
Minerd Funeral Home in Uniontown, PA, perhaps the best-known symbol of the
family in Western Pennsylvania.
As a young man, Ed was a partner in the Blaney, Minerd and Dahlgren firm, handling timber. He then went to mortuary school. He registered for the World War I military draft in 1918, and stated his occupation as a embalmer for W.S. Nixon.
In 1921, Ed founded the funeral home at the corner of East Church and Iowa Street in Uniontown, where he operated it for the next 14 years.
In the first year of business, Ed handled 17 funerals. Within the next four years, the number of funerals grew to 93, and business continued successfully thereafter. The Uniontown Daily News Standard once called him "one of Uniontown's best known young businessmen...."
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| Edward's brand-new fleet of vehicles in front of the East Church Street facility in Uniontown |
On
Feb. 8, 1919, Ed
married Lida B. Smith, seen here, of Uniontown. The wedding took
place on a Saturday evening at 8 o'clock in the home of Lida's sister, Mrs.
Jesse Stentz, in Uniontown. Rev. E.A. Hodil of the Third Presbyterian Church of
Uniontown presided.
The Minerds had no children. She was a charter member of the Soroptomist International of Fayette County, B.P.W. Club of Uniontown, Music Club and the Civic League.
Ed belonged to the Great Bethel Baptist Church and the Memorial Class of its Sunday school; and was a member of the board of deacons of the church and a member of the board of trustees.
His father, as director of the Fayette County Poor Home in the early 1920s, provided him with funerals of indigent or otherwise unknown individuals who died at the facility, providing additional business to the fledgling enterprise.
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| Advertisement in The Hostess Guide and Directory, published by the Ladies Aid Society of the Central Christian Church of Uniontown |
In 1935, Ed became sick, and was treated in various hospitals. He returned home and "seemed somewhat improved but soon started sinking again and didn't show much sign of improvement until he was called in death...." He passed away on July 21, 1935. He was laid to rest following a funeral at the Great Bethel Baptist Church in Uniontown. Newspaper eulogies mourned him as a "widely known young business man of Uniontown and a funeral director for 14 years."
After
Ed's death, Lida continued the business. She moved to a new facility on
West Main Street in 1949 "to give the people of Uniontown and vicinity a
modern and spacious funeral home including air conditioning, off-the-street
parking and up-to-date equipment."
Seen at right, the business continued for nearly 30 years, handling arrangements for hundreds of funerals, including many Minerd-Miner-Minor cousins. For a larger version of this image, click here to see our "Photo of the Month" for March 2002.
One of many advertising venues
In
1978, she sold the home to her longtime supervisor, James D. Barnett, who owned
and operated it for many years under his name at 196 West Main Street, Uniontown.
Lida passed away in 1991.
Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008 Mark A. Miner