The former Kuehl Funeral Home received a much-needed facelift.
Under new management by Brent Gruetzmacher, the property at 108 E. Main St. in Gillett is ready for a public tour.
“The carpet that we replaced was installed in 1964,” Gruetzmacher said. “You can imagine what orange 60-year-old carpet looked like.”
Interior and exterior renovations began almost immediately after the transition of ownership, which took place in December.
“We updated a lot of the interior. I think folks who have seen it before will have a hard time recognizing it,” Gruetzmacher said.
Looking at the building from the curb, onlookers will notice the fresh concrete entrance and sidewalk.
“The old ramp to the door was not safe,” Gruetzmacher said. “The new sidewalk and ramp entrance will just better accommodate everyone.”
Gruetzmacher said that in recent years the Gillett community had felt underserved, because the funeral home was not locally staffed and the building was neglected.
“It was previously ran at a distance. There wasn’t that relationship between the funeral directors and the community, which I think is so vital,” Gruetzmacher said. “A lot of funerals, which could have stayed in Gillett, began ending up in Suring and other nearby cities.”
Gruetzmacher also operates Gruetzmacher Funeral Home in Suring, which his father, Ray Gruetzmacher, began in 1983.
“I helped my dad with everything that I could possibly do as a kid,” Gruetzmacher said. “I started watering the flowers, then went on to mowing the grass, doing building and vehicle maintenance, and then slowly transitioned into helping the people at funerals.”
The Gruetzmacher family legacy lives on as Brent and his wife, Kim, include their sons in the funeral home operations.
“Our 12-year-old says he wants to be just like his dad at this point, but time will tell,” Gruetzmacher said. “It’s a toss-up between that and a race car driver.”
The open house will take place Sept. 4, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony from the Gillett Area Chamber of Commerce at 4 p.m., followed by sandwiches and refreshments until 7 p.m.
“We want Gillett to have a gathering place again, a place for comfort and compassion on those worst of days,” Gruetzmacher said.
