History of Ryan Funeral Home

In 1926, a young dairy farmer from the Town of Rockland decided that the De Pere community needed another funeral parlor. Robert A. Ryan was the Irish gentleman who thought a new parlor would best serve the needs for Southern Brown County. At the time, southern Brown County was served by 2 funeral establishments - Kuehl's and Schumerth's. Both Undertaking Parlors were located on Broadway Street in De Pere and were operated in conjunction with furniture stores. Back in those days, all of the visitations, or calling hours, were held in the home of the deceased or a family member. Most were two night wakes with the funerals held in church on the third day.

Mr. Ryan opened the new funeral home in a storefront located on Main Avenue, De Pere (now Bouche). In August of 1926, he conducted his first funeral for the family of Ellen Lee. 

The professional services continued at a pace that soon necessitated a new, larger facility. In 1937, Robert A. "Rob" Ryan and his family built a new, modern facility on the corner of Second and Reid Streets. At the time, it was one of the few funeral establishments to operate out of a building built solely for funeral home activities. In those days, Mr. Ryan was assisted by two close family friends Leo Burke and Jim Dillon. The Ryan Family reputation for "Thoughtful Service Sincerely Rendered" soon spread and the funeral home was serving families from Askeaton to Oneida. Unfortunately, in June of 1941, Mr. Ryan died while working at the funeral home. Jim Dillon continued to operate the funeral home for the Ryan family during these years. Robert B. Ryan, Mr. Ryan's only son, was enrolled in the ROTC Program at St. Norbert College at the time. Young Bob served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948 when he was honorably discharged as a Disabled American Vet. He completed his Mortuary Education in Milwaukee and joined the family firm in 1950. Mr. Ryan passed away on May 5, 1995. 

In 1955, Lloyd Meyer, an Oshkosh native with family heritage in the funeral profession, joined the firm as a licensed funeral director and embalmer. Mr. Meyer, another U.S. Army Veteran, quickly became an integral part of Ryan Funeral Home's operation. While in his 50th year of service to Ryan Funeral Home and the families of Northeastern Wisconsin, Mr. Meyer passed away on May 5, 2005. 

St Norbert College continued to expand at a rapid rate, and in 1963, the Ryan family decided to sell the Reid Street property to the Norbertine Order for campus needs. At that time, Mr. Ryan and Mr. Meyer purchased land on the yet to be developed Tenth Street on De Pere's West Side for future expansion. In 1964, they moved into the new Ryan Funeral Home building, a state of the art funeral establishment located at 305 North Tenth Street. In those years, Mel Mason and Casey Kolb assisted the funeral directors in their endeavors.

In 1978, Door County native Joe Schinkten began service to Ryan Funeral Home as funeral director and embalmer. With a strong corporate commitment to community service and volunteerism, the Ryan team of professionals continued to establish themselves as the premier funeral home in Brown County. Bob Ryan retired in 1983 and the ensuing stock transactions led to ownership by Mr. Meyer and Mr. Schinkten. Bob Ryan and Lloyd Meyer continued helping at the funeral home until the time of their passings. Today, the funeral home is operated by Joe Schinkten, Scott Baeten, James Wolfe, and Chad Chervenka with non-licensed assistance from Roxanne Olson, Joan Klister, and Casey Kolb.

Immediately after the close of our anniversary year, Mr. Schinkten began an extensive re-building project on the facility on Tenth Street. The new construction included expanded handicapped restrooms, family lounge area, additional office space, much needed pre-need area, all new computerization systems, and additional parking. At the same time, the decision was made to invest in an all new cremation retort, so Ryan's can offer in-house, full service cremation packages. The funeral home belongs to the Cremation Association of North America, and adheres to the strictest levels of professionalism in the crematory operation. In November of 2002, the funeral home celebrated a grand re-opening. The re-decorated, re-furnished, and re-built funeral home is positioned to serve the needs of Northeastern Wisconsin families for years to come.

Although the complexion of funeral service has changed over the decades to mirror the desires of society, the personalized, price sensitive approach to family oriented funeral service still holds as strong at Ryan's as it did when the doors opened in 1926.