MADISON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Wappner Funeral Directors and Crematory has stood the test of time.
Established in 1872 as a furniture making and undertaking business, Wappner now has four locations in the area — the most recent being its cremation center on Ashland Road.
“We started doing cremations back in the late 1980s, and before we had to go either to Cleveland or Columbus,” owner Tom Wappner said.
With the number of families choosing cremations on the rise, a crematory was added to Wappner’s Diamond Street location.
“We got to the point where we had two older units down there (on Diamond Street), and they were getting to the point where they needed to be replaced, Wappner said. “We happened to find this building (on Ashland Road) and decided it would suit our needs more, so we decided to move (the crematory) out here.”
Wappner Cremation Center, located at 1327 Ashland Road, opened in February of 2015.
Jerry Inebnit, general manager and funeral director, said of the 650-700 families that they serve annually, 50 percent choose cremation.
“We also cremate for 10-15 other funeral homes to make it convenient for them here locally so they don’t have to go to Columbus or Cleveland,” he said.
Cremations are becoming more prevalent.
“It’s become more acceptable. There for awhile some different religions didn’t accept it and now they do,” he said. “Another thing is it’s a little more economical — it’s not as expensive as burial.”
Inebnit said they’ve been able to handle the growing number of cremations with their new state-of-the-art equipment and facility.
“This isn’t as large as our other facilities,” Inebnit said of the Ashland Road location. “So it doesn’t have maybe some of the amenities that our big funeral homes like Diamond Street and Ontario do, but I think it fits a certain group of people that like the simplicity.”
He noted that the Ashland Road location is not just a crematory.
“It’s a funeral home with the direction of cremation, and it also includes a crematory,” he said.
Clients can choose to have a cremation committal service, allowing the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved ones before the cremation takes place.
Some families choose a cremation committal service followed by witnessing of the cremation. Witnessing cremation takes place in an intimate area called the cremation viewing room.
Inebnit estimated that 10 percent of their clients choose to take part in the witnessing process.
“That is a finality for them. It wouldn’t be any different than burial families on occasion wanting to stay at the cemetery and watch the casket go into the ground.”
He added that their viewing room has been dubbed one of the nicest in the state.
“It’s not the machine itself — it’s the area we’ve created around it to make it comfortable for families,” he said.
For more information about Wappner Funeral Directors and Crematory, visit www.wappner.com.
