Our History
T he history of our Ashland chapel goes back to the Hoppenyan and Hoppenyan Funeral Home, which was in existence at 302 2nd Street E, from about 1920-1936. Our records also indicate that the Lisko-Wartman Funeral Home and the Solie Rehberg Funeral Home were in operation in Ashland before 1940. The Lisko Wartman Funeral Home was purchased by Pius Schafer in 1958. In 1961 Pius purchased and closed the Solie-Rehberg Funeral Home. He operated the combined business, which he called the Schafer Funeral Home, from what had been the Lisko-Wartman facility at the corner of Third Avenue East and Second Street (Second Street has since been renamed Main Street). Pius Schafer built what is our current facility at the corner of Third Avenue East and Third Street, in 1964. Mark Mountain purchased the Schafer Funeral Home in 1995, and operated it as Schafer-Mountain Funeral Home, before the name change to Mountain Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

The history of our Mellen chapel goes back to the Bruns Funeral Home. The Funeral Home was in the Bruns family for two generations, having been operated by William Bruns, and then his son, William Bruns, Jr. The Funeral Home was originally located where the Holy Rosary Catholic Church Rectory now stands. To make room for the construction of the new Church and Rectory, the Funeral Home moved to it’s current location on Hillcrest Drive. Clarence Novitzke purchased the Funeral Home in 1979. Mark Mountain bought the Funeral Home in 2000.

Our records of the Bayfield Chapel go back to the time that it was the Oberholtzer Funeral Home located in the building on First Street that is now the Isaac Wing House. Pius Schafer purchased the Funeral Home, relocated to a new building on the corner of Rice Avenue and North Tenth Street and operated it as The Bayfield Memorial Chapel. Mark Mountain acquired the Funeral Home as part of the 1995 acquisition of the Ashland Chapel. The Funeral Home was closed in 2004.

Our Vision

Mark Mountain has always believed that families deserve unwavering respect and dignity during the entire memorial experience. It is that principle which has earned us an unsurpassed reputation throughout the area.

We are a caring, innovative, highly skilled, professional people dedicated to assisting people celebrate life. At Mountain Funeral Homes, we believe that every life is unique. The choices you make to celebrate that life can also be as unique and personalized as you wish.

Our Mission

To celebrate Life! We help people create meaningful events that celebrate the life of a loved one who died, help to heal the wounds of loss, and bringing a spirit of renewal to all. We assist people make many of the end-of-life decisions in advance, thus gaining peace of mind for everyone concerned and, at the time of death, enabling family members to more fully enter into celebrating the life of the person.

Our threefold purpose with every family we serve, is to acknowledge and honor a life lived, bring healing to those that are left behind and to be of assistance with the many details that surround the death of a loved one.

For those interested in the benefits of planning their arrangements in advance, we do all we can to make the important decisions that are involved as easy as possible. On this website, you may find information regarding upcoming services as well as the obituaries and related information about persons whose services have already taken place.

Commitment

In all that we do, we are committed to: Respect the dignity of every person. Appreciate diversity and inclusion. Hold fast to honesty and integrity. Create a high level of trust in all relationships. Understand needs and extend genuine care to all. Present traditional and innovative options. Be respectful of peoples’ choices. Extend a warm welcome and gracious hospitality. Provide exceptional service.

Those We Serve

Our primary focus is to those we serve. With respect, dignity and personal attention, we strive to understand their cultural differences and unique needs. We share options with them, and respects their choices. Our goal is to follow through on what we promise and provide exemplary service.

Other Professional Caregivers

Respecting the expertise of other care giving professionals, we seek to establish and maintain superior working relationships with them. In the best interest of those we mutually serve, we are committed to work cooperatively together to serve the needs of families and create meaningful events.

The Community

We are an integral part of the communities we serve, and we are concerned for their vitality. We are supportive of each community’s resources and respectful of their natural environments. At all times, we seek to be good neighbors.

Our Suppliers

Our aim is to develop and maintain superior working relationships with our suppliers in order to bring to those we serve a variety of products, when they are needed at a fair price. These relationships are based on mutual trust and respect.

Our Profession

As creative and caring leaders, we bring innovative ways of serving people. In all our work we adhere to our profession’s highest ethical standards and strive to set an exemplary level of service.