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Our funeral home was established in 1921 when W. Harry
Christy
moved to Sioux City
and opened a funeral home in the Morningside
area. Mr. Christy operated the funeral home until 1961, during which
time he also opened a second funeral home located on the west side
of town. In 1961, Sherman Larson purchased the funeral homes and
operated them until he retired in 1983.
In 1983, Terry Smith
and
Scott Hockenberry purchased the funeral homes
from Mr. Larson. Many
additions were added to the building during this
time to provide
a large, modern facility for the community. Mr. Smith and
Mr. Hockenberry were
also able to purchase the McCulloch Funeral Home
in Moville, Iowa,
in 1988, and the Berkemier Funeral Home in Sioux
City in 1996. The west side location was closed when the Berkemier
location was purchased. In 2007 the Berkemier Chapel was completely
remodeled. New selection rooms were added and the chapel has been
completely redone.
In 1998, Mr. Smith acquired the entire
business and became the sole
owner. The name has changed
through the years, starting with W. Harry
Christy Funeral Home; to
Christy Funeral Home, to Christy, Smith and
Hockenberry Funeral Homes, to the present name of Christy-Smith
Funeral Homes. The
year 2006 has provided us with another area
of expansion when the Larkin Northside Funeral Home was acquired.
This allows us to
provide all of our services to another neighborhood in our city.
In
2000, we opened the Family
Resource Center
in a building
adjacent to the funeral home. The resource center is a facility with
many modules providing ideas and products for families to help them plan their
funeral as a true remembrance service for their loved one.
We have an extensive lending library located in this building consisting
of a collection of books and audio tapes on death, bereavement and other losses. The resource center also houses our community
room
where families are able to have funeral lunches after their service;
the room is also available to the community for a wide variety of uses.
In 2002, we opened the Christy-Smith Crematory to provide another
service to our community and to be of service to the funeral directors
in the surrounding area. In 2003, we purchased property adjacent to
the funeral home to provide much needed parking for both facilities.
Christy-Smith Funeral Homes provides several aftercare programs
for our families and the community, most of which meet in our
community room at the resource center. See a detailed explanation those aftercare programs under our services section and grief counseling on this web site.
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