Sunday, May 03, 2015

When Sandusky’s Funeral Homes Provided Ambulance Service


Before organized emergency medical services were introduced in the United States, funeral homes often provided emergency ambulance service as well as transportation for sick patients. In the souvenir booklet from Sandusky’s Centennial Celebration in 1924, Charles J. Andres’ Sons funeral directors offered 24-hour sedan ambulance service. In the same publication, the Frey Furniture and Undertaking Co. advertised an auto invalid car “used exclusively for the living.”


In this picture from a 1924 parade, the Andres Funeral Home vehicle had the word ambulance lettered above the white cross on the front of the car.


The billboard in the undated picture  below from rural Erie County  stated that the Frey Funeral Home also offered ambulance service.




Listings in Sandusky City Directories indicate that local funeral homes provided ambulance service from the 1920s through the 1970s. An article in the June 25, 1964 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that during the 1950s and 1960s,  the Andres, Frey, Keller, Quick and Suitor Funeral Homes rotated ambulance service on a monthly basis, so that the calls were distributed fairly. David Suitor stated that he personally delivered five babies while on ambulance calls in Sandusky. 

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for this cool post! This is informative and succinct and very interesting! I am a great-great granddaughter of the Andres line and it's wonderful to find some photos from the funeral home.

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    1. Want to say hi, I Jim Suitor, son of David Suitor owner of the David Suitor Funeral home. Knew your family. This article brings back memories.
      I remember working on my father's ambulance service as a young man.

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  2. Even though this article was posted in 2015, this is the first time (Dec. 2019) I've read it. I recall that several decades ago (1950's), when the Quick Funeral Home, and Fred Frey's funeral home, were both still in operation, folks used to joke that there was a ruomr that these two funeral directors might merge thier businesses, and that it would be known as the "Quick Frey" Funeral Home.

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  3. David Suitor and my father, Eugene August Buddelmeyer, were very active in the Knights of Columbus.

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  4. Who used to use the old Cadillac ambulance that used to cover Sandusky speedway back in the 80s pre NCEMS.... I loved looking that huge beast.

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