Necker–Sharpe Funeral Home

Necker–Sharpe Funeral Home
Details
Established 1895
Location 525 45th Street
Union City, New Jersey
07087
Country United States

Necker–Sharpe Funeral Home is funeral home in Union City, New Jersey.

History

William Necker was born in West Hoboken, New Jersey on November 12, 1870, his parents the eldest son of Christopher Necker and Louisa Kienle, natives of Germany. Circumstances required stop attending school at age of twelve to work in piano-making in the establishment of the Braumuller Piano Company in New York City. During his eleven years became a skilled workman, in the general construction of pianos, and in his last three years was charge of the woodworking department.

Necker Building
43rd and Bergenline

From December 1892 to April 1894, Necker attended the United States School of Embalming in New York where he studied theoretical and practical aspects of embalming and undertaking. Immediately after graduation he opened an office on Bergenline Avenue in what was then Union HIll. He makes it a maxim of treating the poor with the same dignity as the rich. The buinesss was successful and soon after he had branches in West Hoboken and Guttenberg.[1] By the beginning of the 20th century, Necker had more than twenty branches both in New York and New Jersey At its height, William Necker Inc., averaged about 5000 funerals a year. He claimed it to be the largest business of its type in the country and probably the world.[2]

The Necker Building was built circa 1900 in then Union Hill, which after its consolidation with West Hoboken in 1925, became the northern part of Union City, New Jersey. His main branch included a crematory, casket trimming department, a monument department, a floral department, and a dress department where they were made. The biggest chapel could seat over 400. The livery business also located there. Since the establishment also served as the local morgue, there was also an ambulance service. As of 2014 there are factories on the upper floors and a restaurant on the ground floor.

Necker died suddenly in 1916 at the age of 45, leaving his wife and small children, and the business deteriorated. Soon the only funeral home left was a small branch. named Mrs. William Necker & Sons. In 1943, the oldest son William Jr., the principal operator, also died. In 1948, the remaining Necker family purchased the S.R Sharpe Funeral Home consolidating into the Necker-Sharpe Funeral Home. In 1958, the Necker sold the business to Harold Azmelian, a former employee, which he operated until 1979.

The current building, built in 1930, was one of the first in the United States to be built solely as a funeral home, and the last of the Necker branches to bear the name.[3]

See also

References

Coordinates: 40°46′56″N 74°01′19″W / 40.7821°N 74.0219°W / 40.7821; -74.0219

  1. ↑ Burnham, Cornelius (1900). "William Necker Genealogical History Of Hudson And Bergen Counties New Jersey". getnj.co. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  2. ↑ Morgado, Luis. "How It Got Started". luis.morgado.net:60. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  3. ↑ Morgado, Luis. "Demise of the Empire". luis.morgado.net:60. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
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