21 Wintemute Street
Fort Erie, ON
Phone: 905-871-2702
OUR HERITAGE
Fort Erie’s
oldest funeral home had a modest beginning at the turn of the century when the
J.A. Attwood opened a new establishment at #14 and #16 Dufferin Street on the
west corner of Klauk Street. Our community was called Bridgeburg at the
time, and it would be 1932 before it was re-named as Fort Erie.
Initially, the
Attwood enterprise consisted of the funeral home at #16 and an adjoining
building at #14 from which they ran a combined grocery, hardware and feed
store, with a home and barn at the rear. The horses and a glass
hearse and other vehicles were housed in the barn.
Later he built
the furniture store on Jarvis Street, just east of the Post Office. John
Atwood was the Funeral Director, and having no living brothers, was assisted by
his sons, Ira and John. The furniture store was run by sons Lloyd, Ira
and John. Lloyd was the salesman and record keeper, with Ira and
John delivering the furniture. Eddie worked elsewhere.
John Atwood later
built a funeral home at its present site on Wintemute Street, and a large brick
home east of it, where he lived with his wife Annie (Bowen),
daughters Reva and Vera, and son Edward. Ira and his wife Stella (Forbes)
lived over the funeral home. Then John Sr. built on the
other side of the funeral home, for his son John, affectionately known as
Young John, and his wife Evelyn. As well, he bought a home further up
Wintemute for his son Lloyd and his wife Pearl (Forbes).
John Atwood was even
Mayor of Fort Erie at one time (see Many Voices, published by
the Fort Erie Museum Board 1996).
After J.A.'s
passing, the children took over both aspects of the business with Ira as the
funeral director while his brothers Lloyd, John and Eddie served in other
capacities of the enterprise.
In the mid
1950’s Stanley Baechler (1916-1973) and his wife Cela (1914-1994) purchased the
funeral establishment. It would be years later before they would change
the name of the business to Baechler Funeral Home. Mr. Baechler was
assisted by his father-in-law Mr. Ohm, and funeral directors such as Ray
Wagner, Larry Williams and John Croal (presently Rev. Croal of the Roman
Catholic Diocese of St. Catharines). The Baechlers were very active in
the community and even played a role in the founding of Niagara’s Brock
University.
In 1972 the
Baechlers decided to retire and Allan Davidson acquired the funeral home.
Mr. Davidson also owned a funeral home in Port Colborne and Welland.
Through 1988 and 1989 the building underwent extensive renovations which saw,
among other changes, the old red brick home removed from the property and a
modern chapel constructed in its place. As the construction came to a
close in 1989, the step-son of Allan Davidson, Mark McCormack, became the new
owner of the firm.
Just as the pages of the calendar were turned to mark
a new decade in 2010, considerable developments were being welcomed at the
funeral establishment. Karl Hammond, a funeral director with a
distinguished career spanning over 40 years, joined our Fort Erie community and
became the managing director of the funeral home. The name of the
establishment was subsequently changed to Hammond-Davidson Funeral Home to
reflect this significant advancement. The immediate future will bring sweeping
changes to the building at 21 Wintemute Street. Not only will the location
be changed esthetically to reflect current design trends, but major interior
structural enhancements will also be made to foster an atmosphere that is both
welcoming and comfortable.
