Received this update today:
Lloyd is out of the rehab hospital and home in the Wichita area. He is doing outpatient rehab. Hopefully by mid August they will be able to do rehab on his back. By the first of September they hope to start rehab on his left arm which had undergone some surgery from the fall. He is improving and is very thankful for the cards. Cards can still be dropped off at Howard Senior Center or mailed to the Zimmerman Funeral Home.
Clean up of the old structure to begin in mid-August. Rebuilding is being scheduled as soon as Lloyd has chance to okay new building plans.
Meanwhile, Rick Brock and Tony Signer of Countryside Funeral Home (http://www.countrysidefh.com/) of Fredonia is helping cover for him. When the need arises call Zimmerman's Funeral Home at 374-2381.
Thank you so much for the update. Would you mind posting the funeral home's street address please.
link for Countryside Funeral Home: www.countrysidefh.com
The address for the Zimmerman Funeral Home is:
206 E. Washington
PO Box 1233
Howard, KS 69349-1233
Thanks to you both. I 've been there, but was too lazy to look it up.
Thank you for the address and update, it is so nice to hear that he is home. A person always feels better at their own home with their own things around them. Especially family and friends.
And the walls came a-tumblin' down.
The first picture is from yesterday, the rest are from today.
More pictures - from today.
Thanks for posting the pictures Debbie.
WOW! That is really going to leave a hole there for awhile..
Looks weird to not have that home there.
But, just think........We might get to have another "Ribbon Cutting" ceremony.........and a Homecoming for Lloyd. What a blessing that will be. As sad as it all is, we sometimes must look for the silver lining.
Isn't it strange, but without the building there...that corner looks small.
The pictures were very nice, but the subject is sad. Did Zimmerman's indeed have a basement? It doesn't look like it in the photos. I know they are planning to rebuild, perhaps without a basement?
I think Sunflower can talk about this better, but I'll do my best. Yes, there was a basement. Most of the living was done down there. Bedrooms were upstairs. According to son, Charlie, Lloyd is going to build a one-story funeral home. I don't know just how much living space he will have. Not much would be my guess. The garage that you can still see in the background has an apartment upstairs where a Mrs. Garrison (?) lived for a long time. I'm thinking that Lloyd won't want to sleep anywhere that isn't close to the ground. LOL
Thanks, I wondered if they just pushed all the debris into the old basement. I can certainly understand why he would want to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground floor from now on. ;)
Ruth Flory Sexton, the County Superintendent and a long time teacher and really neat person lived in the garage apartment in the 40s and early 50s. I remember delivering groceries to her upstairs in the late 40s and 50s. Lee Gill had his watch repair business in the downstairs office area and Dr. Moon ran his vet business out of the garage as well. That was a busy place in the 40s and 50s.
Frank
The debris was all taken out to the C & D Landfill that is owned by the City of Howard. The basement was scooped out and then fill dirt was brought in to fill up the hole.
QuoteIsn't it strange, but without the building there...that corner looks small.
I agree. Small is a good word.
I will be very glad when they start building.
When I was a young girl in the late 60's, I took piano lessons in the downstairs area of that brick building (garage) from Mary Caroline Miller. Every Saturday morning for years, I went there and if I had practiced and performed well, I got to go upstairs and visit a little old lady who lived in the apartment and collected dolls. I can't remember her name, but somehow the name Maude comes to mind.
And years ago, when Charlie was very small, my sister, Laurie, babysat for him and they always were in the basement in the living quarters. When I called her last month to tell her about the fire, she seemed surprised about there being bedrooms upstairs. She could not remember that.
I also took piano lessons from Mary Caroline Miller in her studio in the garage at the funeral home. The lady who lived upstairs at that time was Maude McBride. I think Velette (Robin) Smith lived there and helped at the funeral home in later years, also.
Patryn, thank you so much for remembering. I always thought maybe I hallucinated that cause no one else remembered that little old lady upstairs. Sometimes, Mary Caroline Miller would knit me barbie doll clothes while I played the piano, because she knew she could get to do more practicing when it came to bribery with dolls. And then came the recitals. I remember them being at the Baptist Church, I believe, or at least somewhere that had 2 pianos.
When did you take lessons? Did you ever get to see the doll collection upstairs?
I took piano lessons from the time I started 1st grade until I was a junior in high school, so that would have been 1955-1965. Going to lessons was the highlight of my week--I loved playing the piano and still do. When I started lessons, Mary Caroline had her studio in the upstairs of the First National Bank (which is where the Howard State Bank now sits.) The stairs were very, very steep and tall and dark (and scary) from a 5-year-old's perspective, but every week I trudged all by myself to lessons. If you turned left at the top of the stairs, you would find Drs. Frank and Richard Reid's dentist office. To the right were the piano studio and several other "mysterious locked doors". I never knew what else was up in that tall building.
I suppose she moved her studio to the funeral home garage when they tore the building down and moved across the street and prepared to build the Howard National Bank on that site. I don't remember when that was. That must have been a real job to transport the heavy upright piano out of her upstairs studio to move to the other location.
The spring piano recitals were quite an event for all of Mary Caroline's students. Everyone was required to MEMORIZE one solo piece and perform a duet with another student. They were held in the First Baptist Church which had two nice spinet pianos which could be moved to the front of the sanctuary for the "big night performance". I know several students who would quit taking lessons before the recital time came because it was such a traumatic experience for them to have to get up in front of a crowd AND memorize. The church was always full on recital night. It was a special time for me leaving many fond memories.
I too, took piano for many years and loved playing, but hated to practice and hated my first piano teacher. He gave good lessons but he was a lecherous old man of the worst kind. He also gave lessons to 3 of my girlfriends and when we compared notes, it seemed we were all having problems with Mr. Octopus Hands. We all rebelled and quit at the same time. Mom found another wonderful teacher for my sister and me. But I still hated practicing and hated recitals.
well, I started taking piano lessons, but HAD to quit. Teacher told me if I didn't quit putting my own notes in she wouldn't teach me anymore so I QUIT. I still do that and it's all because of being able to play by ear, which is not a bad thing. Being able to listen to a song and sit down and pick it out saved a lot of money we didn't have on music. Remember recitals and duets. Can still, I think, play Waltz of the Flowers. ::) and how bout the Blue Danube ::) (adding some of my own notes, of course ;D)
I'd rather be you. I never learned to play by ear and I wish I could.
I don't know what the plans are for rebuidling. It would only be speculation on my part just like the rest of you, as to what Lloyd's plans are for the new building. Charlie does not seem to be included in the "knowledge" loop. Possibly Signer's and Countryside Funeral Home might have some insight, as prospective new owners. Purely a guess on my part would be why would there be anything but minimal personal living space within the new building, no one has lived at the funeral for several years. Lloyd has made his home in Wichita since before he remarried. As new owners, if I were given the options of to live on-site or off-site...I would choose off-site within the Howard area. I would want to live close by, but still have the personal family privacy of living off-site. It is not only important to live close-by as the owner...it is just as important to have the personal privacy away from the business. They are entitled.
The old building. When we bought the funeral home in the mid-70's there was an apartment above the brick garage. At that time Velette Smith lived in the apartment and helped with answering the funeral home telephone and also quite often played the organ/piano for funeral services. I guess you could say we inheirted Velette with the funeral home. Bless her heart. I can't remember when but many years later Velette moved to the nursing home. Several years after Velette moved out there was a fire in the brick garage that started within the wiring of the apartment area. No one lived in the apartment and we used it only for storage of junk. I do not remember the exact date, but I DO remember that it was THE day of Bessie Miller's funeral. Someone should be able to come up with a date for that fire.
Now...the living quarters within the funeral home. The basement area was large and strictly personal living space. It consisted of a large living room & dining room, beautiful kitchen that was remodled in 1988, large utility room and a large room that was used for minimal storage. The first floor of the funeral home was strictly business area. Chapel, family room, music room, offices, garage, etc. The second floor of the funeral home encompassed the casket selection room, embalming/prep room, large storage space, 2 more large walkin closet areas. And the second floor also had private living space ... 2 large bedrooms and 1 large bathroom.
I don't know how well Elwood Miller tracks these days...but Elwood would be an amazing source of "dates" for when all the building and additions were made onto the funeral home through the years. Any other questions??
Now that you have told me the right name, it was Valette Smith that lived there and not a Mrs. Garrison. I don't know where I got that from. Some idle part of my brain, I guess.
Thank you, sunflower, for telling us how the funeral home was set up. I remember the fire in the garage apartment. I remember after the fire you guys had that building fixed back up to get the damage taken care of.