19 Longevity
Companies that have passed the test of time are the backbone of the Mount Pleasant business community.
There Until the End J. Henry Stuhr, Inc.
I
T’S AS IF A MEMBER OF THE FORD family sold you your new car, or a direct descendant of Will Keith Kellogg helped you pick out your breakfast cornflakes. You’d have connected in a generational straight line with the pioneers of their industries, the visionaries who were there at the very beginning.
And that’s how it is when you sit down with the Stuhr
family, longtime Charlestonians in their fifth generation of providing comprehensive funeral services to some 1,000 families
BY BILL FARLEY
annually at five locations throughout the Lowcountry, including Mathis Ferry Road in Mount Pleasant. You probably won’t discover this fact by reading most
history books, but the business of funerals as we know it today was virtually nonexistent until the onset of the Civil War. Tat’s when the battlefield carnage made embalming both practical and necessary. Tis new practice allowed the common folk to be as generous as the ancient Pharaohs in honoring their departed loved ones, and visitations, related rituals and interments moved from the home into the hands of a new breed of professionals. One of them, doing business in 1865 as Stuhr and
Bruning, Cabinet Makers and Undertakers from a shop on Wentworth Street, was Henry D. Stuhr. An important part of the company’s business, besides creating church adornments such as altar rails and baptismal fonts, was building caskets. It was a natural transition to move into the newly emergent ranks of full-time funeral directors. Stuhr and Bruning soon parted ways, and Stuhr focused on the growth and expansion of the business. Today, J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. is a Charleston institution and one of the most honored and respected funeral services companies in the South. Asked why the Stuhr organization has grown and
prospered while maintaining the high standards of its founder, current CEO and Board Chairman William Sanderson “Sandy” Stuhr replied, “In all circumstances, we treat people with an open heart and open arms in order to serve them best in their time of need.” “We have always tried to do this,” he added. “Tat’s why we have been successful in this business for so long
Left to right: John A. Stuhr, Catherine Stuhr, William S. “Sandy” Stuhr Sr. and William S. “Sandy” Stuhr Jr.
and why families return to us generation after generation.” Vice President Catherine Stuhr noted that while the company has its roots in traditional forms of funeral services, it continues to change with the times. As an example, a few decades ago, requests for cremation amounted to roughly 10 percent of their business. Today, that number is almost 50 percent. And more and more families are opting for “green” burials, with simple, biodegradable wooden caskets and burial in special cemeteries dedicated to environmental sustainability. “We have to defer to the feelings of each family,” she
added, “regardless of what kind of service they choose. When we meet with a family to discuss their wishes, we make sure that they are aware of the range of options available to them and that we are willing and able to accommodate special or unusual requests.” Also of paramount importance to the company’s
reputation and ongoing success, Sandy Stuhr emphasized, is “participation in our communities.” He said that Stuhr executives and staffers are encouraged to take active roles in civic, religious and charitable organizations in order to give something back to the friends and families they serve. And, perhaps most important of all, “My great-great- grandfather believed in listening to the people who came to him and then doing business with a handshake. We still do things that way.”
J. Henry Stuhr is located at 1494 Mathis Ferry Road in Mount Pleasant. For more information about one of the Lowcountry’s oldest and most respected businesses, call (843) 881-9293 or visit
www.jhenrystuhr.com.
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www.MountPleasantHomeGuide.com 57
Photo provided by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc.
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