History

Johnson's Funeral Home dates to the second decade of the twentieth century, giving it the distinction of being Scott County's oldest continuing single family-owned business.

Our firm has been guided by four generations of the Johnson family. Harlan J. Johnson, the founder: his son, R.C. Johnson, Sr. and his wife, Lucille Honaker Johnson; their son R.C. (Chuck) Johnson, Jr. and his wife, Frankie Cagle Johnson; and their daughter, Elizabeth Lucille Johnson-Jones.

For many years the business was known as Johnson and Son; its promotional material denoting the company as "Furniture and Undertaking." The father-son team served as Scott County coroners as well as Lucille H. Johnson.

Johnson and Son’s business location was a four-bay, three-story East Main Street commercial building (pictured left) that is now incorporated into United Bank’s main office complex as the eastern most part of the lobby. The furniture store occupied most of the first floor. In the back were large mahogany glass-faced cases for displaying caskets. On the second floor were the "layout room" and "embalming room," both rarely used because most embalming and ninety percent of the wakes, as visitations were traditionally called, took place in homes. Practically all funerals were held at home or at the family's church. In the majority of cases, families chose caskets at the furniture store for delivery to the home.
 

In 1936, the funeral home moved to its second location at 201 South Broadway (pictured right). The practice of home wakes and church funerals continued until after World War II, at which time families began to request with greater frequency that services be held at the funeral home. 

With the exception of Roman Catholic and Episcopal funerals, the number of church funerals declined greatly between 1955 and 1980. Since then, the trend is reversing again toward more church funerals for all denominations.

 
In December of 1970 the funeral home was moved to our third and present location, 641 South Broadway (pictured left), in order to provide ample off street parking and larger facilities. 

Chuck Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson-Jones, and Toney Chaney are the funeral directors currently serving families.