General Info

Stevens Funeral Home began as part of the hardware store founded by Mr. & Mrs. J. E. Stevens, who moved to Coleman in 1889 from DeLeon, Texas. The Stevens boys - Will, Tom, and Frank - worked with their father in the store. The youngest son, Frank, decided to become a mortician and went to school. In 1907 he returned to start the funeral business. A room was fixed on the second floor of the hardware store for the caskets and necessary equipment. Frank and his friend, Bob Gardner, worked together in this new venture. Wooden caskets (then called coffins) were stocked unfinished and were trimmed as needed. At the time of a death, a special table known as a "cooling board" was carried to the home. The body was prepared in the home and placed in the coffin. Most funeral services were held in the home. Horse-drawn hearses were used to carry the body to the cemetery.