The undertakers — from the university's coffin shop to McGann Hay

1883 – 2005

The trade in 1883: Farr's directory gives the undertaking trade three houses, and the same names stand under Furniture Manufacturers and Dealers — the era's standard pairing of the cabinetmaker's and the undertaker's trades: "Barmore, N. L., 126 n Michigan," "Knoblock Bros., 130 n Main," and "Liphart, C, 122 s Michigan." The Knoblock name is the plow and wagon family's; Conrad Liphart's furniture house stood at the same Michigan Street address.

The university's mortuary: The documented line of the city's great funeral house begins, remarkably, at the university. On the firm's own published history: Brother Francis Xavier (Crowley), Notre Dame's steward and cabinetmaker, became its mortician and coffin maker, licensed by the state, and at Fr. Sorin's request sold coffins and graves to the townspeople; two Brothers Lawrence succeeded him in the work. A change in Canon Law required the university to disconnect itself from profit-making businesses, and Notre Dame sold the undertaking business to Lewis W. McGann on 1 November 1911. McGann moved it to 333 N. Michigan Street in 1913 and to 424 N. Michigan Street in 1925. The mortuary handled the funerals of George Gipp and of Knute Rockne — the firm's account calls Rockne's the largest single funeral in South Bend's history, and Studebaker donated twenty-two limousines for it; the superlative is the firm's.

McGann's second business: Lewis A. McGann moved the house to 624 N. Notre Dame Avenue in 1968, and from 1968 into the early 1980s the firm also ran the largest ambulance service in St. Joseph County; its ambulance division became the first private licensed provider of paramedic advanced life support in Indiana, holding license number 1. Its McGann Medical Supply company was in time sold to Memorial Hospital. Mary Olive McGann Orosz and her son J. Patrick McGann purchased the company in 1977; the house moved to 2313 East Edison Road in 1985, and Morning Star Funerals opened in 1992 at 21275 West Cleveland Road.

Forest G. Hay and the merger: The city's other great house was founded a decade after McGann's purchase: Forest G. Hay established his funeral home in 1920 at 1201 South Michigan Street, and the line ran Forest to his son Ralph F. Hay to his grandson Brian G. Hay. The house kept a full fleet of Studebaker funeral vehicles, and in 1984 the family donated its horse-drawn Studebaker hearse to the Studebaker National Museum. Its chapel at 435 South Ironwood Drive dates from 1979. On 15 November 2005 the two houses merged as McGann Hay, in four locations, the Granger Chapel among them opened the same month — the merged firm under which the trade stands in the city today.

Sources:

1. McGann Hay, the firm's published history (mcgannhay.com) — Brother Francis Xavier's coffin making and state license, the Brothers Lawrence, the Canon Law sale of 1 November 1911 to Lewis W. McGann, the Michigan Street addresses of 1913 and 1925, the Gipp and Rockne funerals and the Studebaker limousines, the 1968 move and the ambulance service with its paramedic license, the medical supply sale, the 1977 purchase, the 1985 and 1992 houses; and the Forest G. Hay line from 1920, the Studebaker fleet and the 1984 hearse donation, the Ironwood chapel of 1979, and the merger of 15 November 2005.
2. Farr's South Bend City Directory for 1883, Classified Business Directory — the Undertakers heading and its three houses, and the same names under Furniture Manufacturers and Dealers.