Gunderson

The family tradition started when Elmer and Inez Gunderson founded Gunderson Funeral Home in 1922. Elmer had just returned from WWI, where he served as a medic, and he built the original funeral home at a location known as Schenk's Corners-a central commercial area on Madison's eastside, where many residents of Norwegian ancestry lived and worked. In time both Elmer and Inez became licensed funeral directors.

"During WWI the medical corpsmen did the handling of the deceased from the battlefield, so that was his introduction to funeral directing," said Pete, the firm's current president.

24 years later Elmer and Inez' son Robert ("Bob") joined the family owned business after serving in the Navy in WWII. Bob soon received his associate degree from the Wisconsin Institute of Mortuary Science.

After more than 50 years of managing Gunderson Funeral Homes, Bob recently passed the torch to Pete, who joined the firm in 1982 upon graduating from the University of Minnesota.

"There's a lot of reward"

Pete says he gained exposure to the family business as a youngster by washing windows, painting stripes on the parking area, and mowing the lawn. He says he would encourage his own three children to consider a career in funeral services.

"I'd encourage them that there's a lot of reward… he said, "…helping the people who helped you grow up through a difficult time of their lives. Most of the people that walk through our door know Bob or myself and our family from the past 80 years here in Madison. Many of them we can call by name when they walk through the door."