Our funeral home is a family owned and operated business. We are large enough to offer our families the same service as the larger firms around, yet we are small enough that each family gets the level of attention and care they expect when they call upon us.

O.P. Gedstad founded the Gedstad Funeral Home in the Queen Anne style Silverson Mansion located at 224 South Broadway in New Ulm, Minnesota in 1927. Over the years, there were several ownership and name changes to the funeral home. In 1989, the main New Ulm location moved to a new building located at 600 South Broadway, the site of the former Union Hospital. Our spacious main chapel, with natural light and a large waterfall, is often described as not only comfortable but serene. Many families comment on the homelike atmosphere of the entire building which includes a large parking lot on site. We also have a branch visitation chapel in the community of Hanska. The business was sold to Prime Successions, Inc., a national funeral chain based in Erlanger, Kentucky in 1996. Jeff and Sue Schmucker purchased the funeral business in August of 2002, bringing local private family ownership back to the communities they serve.

Jeff, a licensed funeral director since 1978, is a New Ulm native. After graduating from New Ulm High School and Mankato State University, he completed his mortuary science studies at the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1976. Jeff and Sue were married in 1978, and have two children and three grandchildren. Sue was raised on a dairy farm near Jordan, Minnesota. It remains in her family today. She too graduated from Mankato State University, with a degree in accounting, and soon after earned her CPA designation. The Schmuckers made their home in Fairmont, Minnesota for many years where Jeff worked for the former Olson Funeral Home. They seized the opportunity for their family to return to New Ulm, and eventually purchased the business in August 2002. Sue assists Jeff with the family business when available. She is employed by the Minnesota Department of Revenue as a Supervisor of the Southern Unit of the Sales and Use Tax Division.

As Jeff is the only licensed director, the firm relies heavily on support staff. Linda Leger serves as the Office Manager, handling most of the daily operations of the business and the funeral service paperwork. Other part-time employees include Dale Gluth, a retired 3M employee; Suzanne Stoesz of Hanska who along with her husband owns Stoesz Trucking. Suzanne also is a hairdresser and co-owner of a hair salon in Hanska with her daughter; Charles Kiecker, a retired banker having worked many years for Alliance Bank; Donald Olson, retired New Ulm school teacher and coach; Ron Pizel who takes care of most of the maintenance of the properties; and Marion Scharf who has been providing housekeeping services for the funeral home for many years. The diverse backgrounds and local attachments of all the employees have helped make Schmucker Funeral Service a well respected part of the community.