Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Ochs Funeral Home
LH-339
Introduction
Agency History
Scope and Content
Inventory
Introduction
The Ochs Funeral Home were donated
to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center by Larry Koch.
Agency History
Henry and Frank Ochs, sons of German immigrant Ambrose Ochs,
founded a funeral home and furniture business in 1887 in the same building as
their father's carriage shop at 607
West State Street in Fremont, Ohio. Ambrose Ochs, with Joseph Stuber
and George Greiner, owned the entire 600 block of State Street. Ochs occupied the western third. In 1920, the funeral home moved across Napoleon Street,
and in 1936, it moved once more to 222
Clover Street.
By this date, Frank Ochs managed the business independent of his
brother. Ochs sold the business in
1971. It continued under the name
Ochs-Koch Funeral Home. The business
moved to 416 South Arch Street
after a merger with Keller Funeral Home in 1983. From that date, the funeral home was known as
Keller-Ochs-Koch Funeral Home.
Scope and Content
The records consist of six
ledgers dated 1891-1899, 1899-1912 and 1916-1924, 1910-1916, 1925-1948,
1949-1971, and 1971-1982, as well as a ledger giving information on funerals
handled by other Fremont, Ohio funeral homes. Ledger 1 (1891-1899) gives the name of the
deceased, age, date of death, date of burial, the person who ordered the
arrangements, casket details, price breakdown, and payment method. Ledger 2 (1899-1912 and 1916-1924) gives the
name of the deceased, age, date of death, date of burial, the person who
ordered the arrangements, casket details, price breakdown, and transfer of the deceased
if applicable. Ledger 3 (1910-1916)
gives more details for the deceased than appears in Ledger 2. Ledger 3 lists the name of the deceased, age,
place and date of birth, place and date of death, date of burial, race,
ethnicity, cause of death, names of the parents of the deceased, occupation,
marital status, physician, time and place of the funeral and the minister in charge,
pallbearers, choir members, the person who ordered the arrangements, casket
details, and price breakdown. Ledger 4
(1925-1948) gives the name of the deceased, age, date of death, date of burial,
religion, the person who ordered the arrangements, vault and casket details,
and the cemetery. Ledger 5 (1949-1971) gives the name of the deceased, address,
age, date of birth, date of death, date of burial, religion, the person who
ordered the arrangements, vault and casket details, and the cemetery. Ledger 6 (1971- 1982) gives the name of the
deceased, address, age, date of birth, date of death, date of burial, religion,
the person who ordered the arrangements, vault and casket information, and
cemetery. Ledger 7 (1973-1977) provides
information for funerals handled by Karlovetz,
Keller, and Weller-Wonderly funeral homes. It gives the name of the deceased, address,
age, date of death, date of burial, religion, and cemetery. Even though each ledger provides information
in the fields mentioned, not every individual has information listed in each of
the fields. Some of the fields may have
been left blank. A hard copy of the index, Ochs
Funeral Home Records Index to
Deceased Persons, 1891-1948, Fremont,
Ohio, prepared by: Eleanor
Kiser, Ruby Kapp & Dennis Smith in 1995, spans
Ledgers 1 through 4. The index is available in the main reading room of the
library. The index and each ledger,
except for Ledger 7, are available on microfilm. Also, the names of deceased individuals
appearing in Ledgers 1 through 6 are indexed in the Hayes Obituary Index on the
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center web site (www.rbhayes.org).
Inventory
Ac. 5340
1. Ledger 1891-1899
2. Ledger 1899-1912; 1916-1924
3. Ledger 1910-1916
4. Ledger 1925-1948
5. Ledger 1949-1971
6. Ledger 1971-1982
7. Records from other Fremont
funeral homes, 1973-1977
Microfilm roll #1
- Index: 1891 – 1948
- Ledgers 1 through 4
Microfilm roll #2
1.
Ledgers 5 and 6