
Quad Cities Funeral Home Recognized as One of America’s Oldest
A Quad Cities funeral home is being recognized as one of the oldest of its kind, not just in the state of Illinois, but in the entire United States.
Funeral homes are curious entities because we sort of take them for granted, until we need them. Think about the funeral homes in our community. Many have been there for generations, some since the early 1900s. I always thought it would be a difficult business to break into for that alone. Your competition involves family names that have been in a community since time immemorial it seems.
Such can be said about Wendt Funeral Home in Moline, IL, whose funeral home has been in the community since 1920. A tall, Victorian-style estate represents decades of caring for the families of the deceased. The funeral home was founded by German cabinetmaker J. Robert Earler in 1866 in Port Byron before passing it onto his sons, who moved the home to Moline, per WQAD.
Not merely the oldest funeral home in the state of Illinois, the funeral home is the fifth-oldest in the entire country, having been family-owned for more than 150 years. The home's current director, Earl Wendt, said the longevity is a testament to evolution in the company's practice:
The business has changed dramatically. There's been a big shift from traditional funerals to cremations, so you have to stay with the market you have to adjust to it and make sure that your business can handle what the future has for you - Funeral Director Earl Wendt, per WQAD
The Illinois Senate released a Resolution congratulating Wendt Funeral Home on being one of the oldest funeral homes in the entire country:
The Wendt Funeral Home continued to be passed on through brothers and sons; today, it is owned and operated by Earl Wendt IV, the sixth generation of the family, who became a licensed funeral director after graduating from Worsham School of Mortuary in 1983 and took over the funeral home upon his father's passing;
[....] The Wendt family is immensely proud of the family funeral business and credits its success to their values of compassion, professionalism, and attention to detail, a legacy carried on through six generations; therefore, be it RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the Wendt Funeral Home for its longstanding business and service to its community, and we wish it many more years of operation for generations to come; and be it further - per the Illinois General Assembly's website

The Wendt Funeral Home is located at 1811 15th St Place in Moline, while the original Wendt home still exists in Port Byron. Read the full Senate Resolution here.
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Gallery Credit: Connor Kenney/Townsquare Media Quad Cities
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