With the exception of a few of our local civic organizations, you’d be hard-pressed to find more than a few family-owned operations whose roots in Lombard go back as far as the Brust family’s and are still going strong. More specifically, Brust Funeral Home is celebrating 50 years in business, and those roots go back farther than one man’s desire to open his own funeral parlor in the Lilac Village.

According to funeral director John Brust, "great-great-great" relatives settled in rural DuPage County, and names like Marquardt, Tonne and Graue are mixed in with the Brust family name, along with "a long family history" in the creamery business. It was John’s grandfather, Fred, though, who entered into the funeral business, according to his dad, John "Jack" Brust, founder of the funeral home who now spends much of his time living in Wisconsin. According to Jack, his father, who was born and raised in Addison, "started before World War One taking care of the horses" for ambulance and hearse services in Maywood. At that time, Jack said, "all the funeral homes had their own horses," indicating that blackhorses were used for adults, and white ones for children.

Jack recalled that during his youth, "I worked with my father through high school, cutting grass, (doing) odd jobs, delivering flowers, and worked at the cemetery. During war times you couldn’t get anyone else to work."

After attending a year of college and spending 13 months in the army, Jack went back to college and majored in accounting. With his GI Bill funding coming to an end, Jack went to mortuary school and spent a year as an apprentice at a Chicago funeral home. He got a funeral director’s license and also worked for Chicago Screw Co. for some four years both full- and part-time. At the same time, "I waited for an opportunity to get my own business," said Jack.

John B. "Jack" and Emily Brust

Then Lombard village president Edwin Deicke - uncle of Jack’s wife Anita - kept a lookout for a place Jack could set up a funeral home with the $1000 he had saved up. The opportunity presented itself in the form of a house at 135 S. Main Street, which was originally a farmhouse. It had been the home of Lombard’s first resident minister, the Rev. Charles Caverno, and was later occupied by Dr. T. Franklin James. According to Lillian Budd, in "Footsteps on the Tall Grass Prairie," arm and leg bones were uncovered on the property during excavation, presumable amputated limbs buried there by Dr. James.

At the time, Jack worked part-time at the screw company and part-time in the funeral business. He recounted that the house had only one electrical outlet, no heat (only fireplaces) and 17 broken windows when he moved in the remodeled in 1952. By 1953 "we did something like seven (funerals) all year," and that number rose steadily, added Jack. His father, who had worked for Senne for 40 years, came to work at the Lombard funeral home in the mid-50’s for about 15 years and died in 1978.

"All of a sudden the business was growing," said Jack, recalling that he also worked at the DuPage and York theaters, pumped gas, and "lived in the (funeral home) chapel. For awhile we kept the organ in the kitchen." Joyce Funeral Home was the only other funeral home in town, and by 1978, Brust Funeral Home "grew to the point where we were the largest funeral home in DuPage County," Jack said modestly.

Jack "semi-retired" in 1993, partly he quipped, because "I was tired of burying my friends." Plus, Jack continued, he felt that for the sake of his sons, John and James (who is the funeral director at the Carol Stream funeral home), overseeing the business, it was better "not to have a father nagging over (their) necks."

Like his father, Jack, John Brust grew up in the business, echoing that "I started out cutting the grass when I was twelve." The Brust family lived at the funeral home off and on, making additions to the building in the late 1950s and 1960s. When asked what it was like living in a funeral home, John responded that at times, "it was tough to be raised where you had to be quiet." He continued, "when you’re little you don’t think about the funeral business," adding that "I could never understand why people were fascinated with what my dad did."

Later, though, as he got older, living at the funeral home, along with his dad’s occupation, was "always a source of fascination with my contemporaries," John chuckled. Jack remembered some great New Year’s Eve parties at the funeral home and his son emphasized that "I don’t feel like growing up here was a huge disadvantage."

John Brust went on to college, majoring in English and Religion, and was thinking ahead to graduate school when his mother, Anita, died. He went back to work at the funeral home and began attending mortuary college in Chicago, serving an apprenticeship at a Glen Ellyn funeral home.

John and Karen Brust, John B. "Jack" Brust

(Photo by Steve Spoden from The Lombardian)

As John tells it, it used to be that "funeral homes were not able to incorporate." If a family member did not get a license and take over the business it had to be sold. So, "it was my responsibility to hurry up and get my license," he continued, adding that "you were raised with that expectation" of taking over.

In addition to the "familial obligation" though, being in the funeral business is "a helping profession," which John Brust said he was interested in. John talked candidly about what it means to be in the funeral business, saying that while "you cannot take away all the hurt," in his job, the rewarding aspect is that "you undertake that which (people) cannot do or choose not to do."

"There are tasks," John explained, "that need attending to, such as notifying Social Security or the Veteran’s Administration, insurance companies and alumni groups, writing obituaries and contacting newspapers, arranging the services and working with clergy. All that helps them (families) with the details." He reiterated, "at its best it is very much a helping profession. What you are mainly dealing with is people."

Jack explained that being able to work in this business is "just in your personality. Either you have it or you don’t."

"I do a little of everything," John explained, mentioning that he does delegate some of the "technical" behind-the-scenes work. "The hardest part is that the job changes," John shared, pointing out that "American culture is changing dramatically, trying to ascertain where people are when they come through the door. He elaborated that the "parameters of religion" have changed from the early days of Lombard and other blossoming communities, when predominant funeral practices were based on Roman Catholic and Protestant (largely Lutheran) religions.

"Very often families are blended" today, John observed, adding that families have "pulled ethnic customs" from their own backgrounds to use in family funeral rites. "I’ve always tried to encourage the religious aspect of the funeral business," said Jack, adding "we try to have a close relationship with the clergy."

"Some people are sheepish because they haven’t been to church in 15 years," John said. Helping those folks incorporate religious observances into a funeral is "most comforting to people that are grieving."

Living in a community such as Lombard is a benefit because, according to John, the clergy in town are very accommodating, and "Lombard is a very religiously diverse community. We’ve been able to establish relationships with all those (religious) communities." However, he admitted, "that has often been a challenge, to learn (the customs of other religions)."

The elder Brust also commented candidly that while there is "more information available to the public" about planning funerals today, "respect and dignities have diminished" in society that has changed its attitude toward the elderly. There are more non-traditional funerals these days and "two day wakes have turned into two hour wakes."

"We’ve become too materialistic, too time-limited. People used to spend a year’s salary on a headstone just for their father," Jack said. "I’m just talking in generalities." Jack added, "People have taken grief and put it in the closet."

The younger Brust expanded on that sentiment, defining that "mourning is what you do publicly. Grieving is what you do privately." Baby-Boomer age folks have experienced loss "the least of any generation in the history of the world," pointing out that for persons their grandparents’ age and older, "death hit at a younger age in those generations," so there was more exposure to the experience.

Adding to that, John mentioned, in the 1970s, for instance, "there were far more children’s funerals than we (have) now. (Today) it’s much more traumatic because it’s outside their experience, (making it) a more difficult time coming to terms with that event." Consider that by comparison, in a community of two or more generations ago, "half the children died before they were fourteen."

Today, too, families are more spread out, creating "less involvement with extended families, extended communities," John added, so the baby boomers have "much less experience dealing with death" than their grandparents did.

And speaking of funeral practices, when asked about unusual scenarios or situations he has encountered, John responded, respectfully, that one such occasion stood out for him. At the cemetery a group of men pulled out pistols from under their clothing and gave their version of a 21-gun salute. "(The deceased) wasn’t a veteran. They just started shooting," he said, with a hint of a chuckle, "like out of the nineteenth century. The priest asked me if we could beat a hasty retreat."

Another unusual situation came to mind, when the funeral director recalled a family putting a television in the casket of their loved one, with a Cubs game playing. At the Greek Orthodox church where the funeral service was being conducted, just as the casket lid was opened for the customary viewing, "Harry Cary said ‘Holy Cow,’" John narrated, adding that "it scared (the priest) a great deal. That poor priest was very shaken."

Looking ahead to the future of funerals, John commented that there is a "new wave" of competition from corporation-owned funeral businesses, which "have very vast resources. How do you compete with that as a small, family-run business?" Today, folks in their 40s and 50s are being "targeted" to buy cemetery plots and other merchandise, placing the focus on sales, not service, in the funeral director’s view. "I was always taught the exact opposite. You competed because you gave the best service."

Also, "there’s been a lot of publicity about the trend of cremation. I think that will continue. America is becoming more affluent, highly educated, less religious," leading to an increase in cremations, although among certain religious groups, it is "forbidden," according to the funeral director. He noted that cremation rates in Illinois "actually dropped last year."

People are living longer these days, and the death rate per 1000 people continues to fall, John said, especially among the young and elderly, which is "very good news" for most of us. "That will change funeral practices as well," because funeral homes will be competing for business. That, added Mr. Brust, is "more challenging news for me."

He emphasized that it’s his staff (seven other full-time and eight part-time employees) that helps make the business successful, noting that "I’m very proud of my staff."

John and Karen Brust with their children,

John Christian, Maggie, Ted and Kate

(Photo by Steve Spoden from The Lombardian)

John said one thing that hasn’t changed over time is that some of his own kids are, for the time being, working the family business. The father of four children -- ranging in age from 17 to 9 -- said that his daughter, Kate, assists his wife, Karen, with the bookkeeping; and son, John, shovels snow and works as a parking lot attendant, helping direct the flow of traffic. As to whether they will enter the business, "it’s way too early to tell. The expectation is different."

Another thing that hasn’t changed is that John’s kids have gotten the same kind of reaction to his occupation as he did before them. Their peers "ask about the dead bodies," and "cremation, accidents and sensational cases," Brust said. "They’re afraid of it. At the same time they’re fascinated with it.

Returning to the topic of what’s difficult about the funeral business, both the elder and younger Brust men say that burying family and friends never ceases to be difficult. Jack said that as part of a close-knit community like Lombard, where people see each other in the grocery store, at church or school functions, it’s hard not to think about "all the friendships, all the fun."

John agreed, saying "if you are involved, eventually you’re going to start dealing with people you know on a professional basis." He recalled, for instance, that "I buried my first grade teacher. You begin to feel those are difficult experiences." "It’s all part of the business," his father said. "But that’s why you’re in business, to help people," stressed the son.

"I was always very close to Lombard," the senior Brust said. His, and his son’s, lists of involvements are proof that those aren’t just hollow sentiments. The elder Brust founded the DuPage Funeral Director’s Assn. as well as the Lombard Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He served as president of a number of organizations, including the Lion’s Club, Friends of the Library, Lombard YMCA and the Rotary Club. He was involved with Lombard’s Bicentennial Commission, the Library Board and Planning Commission, the Log Cabin Committee and the Lilac Festival Parade (he was also a Grand Marshall in 1983), to name a few. Jack was also named Lombard’s Man of the Year in 1960 and Citizen of the Year in Carol Stream in 1988.

"I’m very proud of my family’s service to the community. There was the expectation of being involved in Lombard and giving back to Lombard," emphasized the younger Brust, who has been fulfilling that expectation.

John has served as a past or present chairman or president and/or member of many organizations, including the Board of Trustees of Partnership for Educational Progress (PEP), the school board at St. John’s Lutheran School, the Lombard Historical Commission, Jaycees, United Way and YMCA, the Board of Governors at Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, and other church, school and sports groups.

Now that the senior Brust has all but turned over the business to his sons -- "I still keep my fingers in the pot," -- he has time to sit back and reflect on a long and distinguished career in business and community services. As Jack sees it, there are only a few folks left who can say they’ve been established in Lombard’s business community as long as the Brust family has, and that’s because "I’ve buried the rest of them."

(Edited from a story by Jane Charmelo in "The Lombardian," 9-25-02.)