Missouri Crematory - The Inauguration of The Missouri Crematory

The Inauguration of The Missouri Crematory

Although Mrs. Terry’s was the inaugural cremation at the new facility, Mr. Terry requested that as few persons be present as possible, other than the immediate relatives. So it was that the only persons besides the family that were present that day were Charles Speck, Judge J. G. Normile, and from the Crematory Association, John M. Dutro (Vice President), E. P. Olshausen and Dr. Henry S. Chase (Directors), Otto J. Wilhelmi (Secretary), and the attendants who were necessary to the actual work of the incineration.

The Undertaker arrived in his carriage at the Missouri Crematory at approximately 9:00 a.m. with Mrs. Todd’s casketed body. The family was then assembled in the Chapel on the upper level of the building, and the casket was lowered to the cremation room below.

Following the cremation, Mrs. Todd’s ashes were placed in a lead casket provided by the Undertaker, and were subsequently buried alongside her father in the family plot at Bellafontaine Cemetery.