Owner has many ties to Vandalia

HEREABOUTS beth anspach

Mark Whetstone of Vandalia said he knew what he was going to do when he “grew up” as far back as fifth grade.

“We moved from Huber Heights to Vandalia in 1979 when my parents bought a funeral home from Emerson Morton,” Whetstone said. Whetstone’s father, Richard, purchased the business, which was started in Vandalia in 1941, after working many years as a trade embalmer. “Dad knew Mr. Morton and so when he was ready to retire, he offered the business to him.”

And though Whetstone said there were no “epiphanies” that happened during his childhood to lead him into the funeral business, he grew up with it, and “it was only natural that I go into the business.”

After working at Morton-Whetstone Funeral Home as a teenager and learning all about the business, Whetstone said it was something he knew well. “I was used to the lifestyle,” Whetstone said. “If we ever wanted to eat dinner with my dad, we did it around his schedule.”

And that schedule today is the one Whetstone continues, one that is unpredictable and affected by many variables.

“Death, as they say, never takes a holiday,” Whetstone said.

Richard Whetstone always has been dedicated to running the business the way Morton did — offering personal service and a live person answering calls 24 hours a day. And Whetstone carries on those traditions, living behind the funeral home and taking calls whenever they come in.

“Vandalia is a community with strong family values,” Whetstone said. “It was important to my dad to offer the service to the community that they were used to.”

The business has grown from just six funerals in 1979 to approximately 150 per year today. And it is the oldest operating business in Vandalia.

Since many people don’t plan ahead when it comes to funerals, it’s a very emotional time when they call.

“The last thing people want to do when they have lost a loved one is talk to an answering machine,” Whetstone said. “They want to talk to someone they know will just take care of things.”

Growing up in the business wasn’t always easy for Whetstone, or for his two daughters, Ashley, 22 and Katie, 16.

“A few of my friends would never visit me at home,” Whetstone said. “And it is the same for my girls. People are just uneasy around death.”

Whetstone’s dedication to the business and the community is apparent as he speaks about the people he knows.

“I have worked as a volunteer firefighter in Vandalia for 20 years,” he said. “I have met so many people going out on runs and through the business. It has all come full circle since high school. In those days we were burying my friends’ grandparents and now, their parents.”

And as the years have passed, the funeral business has changed. Cremation has become more popular and people have moved away from the more traditional services, opting for life celebrations and video tributes, as well as memorial services that take place months after the person has died.

“Our society is much busier now so we help people work around the family’s schedule,” Whetstone said. “We’ve learned to be much more flexible.”

Contact this columnist at (937) 475-8212 or banspach@woh.rr.com.