J. B. Cook Mansion

Granddaughter Rose Cook Greenwood remembers living in the house with her Grandmother Rose Cook as a young girl from 1930-1931. “Grandma Cook was my favorite person in the world. During my first summer there she taught me math and reading so I wouldn’t be behind in school.” said Greenwood. She remembers having friends over and playing all over the huge house, “We would just go up in the cupola of the house and just watch people as they would go by.”

Having lived with her grandmother in the midst of the Great Depression, Rose G. remembers the wealth of the family was fleeting. “By the time I got there, Grandmother Cook was in a wheelchair and was selling furniture from the house for money. All she had to live on really was a small Civil War pension.”

Fritz Funeral Home 1933-1946

Jeremiah’s wife Rose with the help of her son Harry Cook sold the home to Charles B. Fritz in 1933 for a small sum. “Nobody had the money to repair it and keep it in good condition. Fritz said he could maintain the building and he did a good job of it.” said granddaughter Rose Cook Greenwood. Fritz was a pioneer undertaker and had owned a handful of funeral homes around this area of the state. Fritz transformed the building into a modern funeral home with residences in the building. I can’t imagine living in a funeral home but apparently the odd combination was successful. Fritz also had plans of turning some of the property into a floral park as well. Until 1946 Fritz operated the funeral home, watch and jewelry repair business and an eyeglass business at this location.

Miller Funeral Home 1946-1971

Charles B. Fritz entering into his older age retired from his businesses. Him and his wife sold this property to Herschel Miller in 1946. Miller was from Oklahoma and had previously been employed by funeral homes there. Upon his purchase of the former Cook Home he would move to Chetopa immediately.

A common thing of this era was for funeral homes to have their own ambulance services. Under the Fritz and Miller names, it had an ambulance. A brand new one was purchased by Herschel Miller from a local distributor in 1960 signifying that business was doing well. Over the next decade, the Miller Funeral Home had performed hundreds of Chetopa funerals. This surely was a reflection of Mr. Millers reputation that so many residents of the town would trust him with their loved ones.

The Millers remodeled the entire home in 1967, hosting an open house to celebrate the new life breathed into their business. The chapel was redecorated, the walls were paneled and the ceilings were lowered. Windows were closed and new lighting was added throughout. Additional pews were brought in to bring the total seating capacity to 100. The family room sported a blue shade of paint while the music room was gold. Red carpeting was added to just three of the rooms and air conditioning and a sound system were installed throughout the whole building. This was when the addition was added to the right side of the building that had a canopy and display room. The new wall paneling was said to enhance the carved oak spiral staircase.

Bates Funeral Home /Sperry Funeral Home/Sperry-McConnell-Bath Funeral Home ~1972-1987

Even with the brand new renovation, it seemed the Millers, after 20+ years of business in the building decided to sell it to the Bates Funeral Home in the early 1970s. Although, the Bates family didn’t own it long at all. By 1973, Mr. and Mrs Claude Bates were to move out of the funeral home and make room for Mr. and Mrs. Sperry of the Sperry Funeral Home to take over.

The council approved a work permit by the Sperry Funeral Home in 1974 to reroof the property. Why this wasn’t done during the renovation just a few years before intrigues me. In 1980, Lloyd Sperry brought on David McConnell and Herb Bath to join him in the funeral business. Both were great additions and helped grow the name and reputation of the funeral home.

Bath Funeral Home/Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home 1988-2011

Herb Bath had worked his way up the ranks and in 1988 he bought the businesses from Sperry making them Bath Funeral Home.

Bath was extremely fascinated by the detailed architecture of the former home. “I’ve spent hours looking at that stairway. There’s just no way wood should be able to do that. It was his dream to restore the home to exactly as it was in the 19th century and “correct” some of the over modeling done during the Miller era.

After decades of business at this location, the Bath Funeral Home made the difficult decision to move in 2011. This was hard as Herb Bath absolutely loved this home. But with its age also came difficulties, the modern conveniences offered by their new location make this facility more comfortable in every way.

Restoration?

Over the last decade, multiple owners have bought the home and taken their shot at an attempted restoration to no avail. A new metal roof was put on sometime in between 2018-2022. This move will single-handly help preserve the vacant home from further deterioration being that a metal roof lasts longer than a shingled.