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Our Story

Our Story

We begin in Cumberland, where our funeral home dates back to 1915, making it one of the older businesses in the area. The funeral home was founded by August Schneider and Clarence Jacobson, with funeral service originally being only a small part of their business and their main occupation being a hardware and furniture store, portrayed in the image.

Original business as it was established in Cumberland

August Schneider's diploma, dated 1913, which hangs in our Cumberland location

Original photo courtesy of Katie Kuenkel

Our Beginnings
August Schneider was born in Rice Lake, WI in 1887. Mr. Schneider came to Cumberland in 1915 and began his partnership with Clarence Jacobson. Albin J. Hyllengren and Henry L. Cotone joined the firm in the late 1920's.

In the early 1940's, A.J. Hyllengren converted the large family home located at 637 North Main Street in Rice Lake to establish Hyllengren Funeral Home. In 1944, the Cumberland business of Schneider & Jacobson was sold to Henry Cotone, which he operated for many years.


Along the Way
In 1971, Bob and Pat Skinner of Cumberland purchased the funeral home from Henry Cotone. Bob and Pat owned and operated the funeral home for almost 40 years, during which time they also established the funeral home in Turtle Lake, in 1985. Their son, Bill, completed mortuary school in 1996 and he returned home to begin his career in the family business. Bill expanded to Shell Lake in 2004 with the purchase of Pockat Funeral Home when John and Peg Pockat retired. A crematory was installed in our Turtle Lake location in 2005, which serves all four funeral homes.

In Rice Lake, Larry and Bea Jarocki succeeded A.J. Hyllengren in 1980. They operated Jarocki Funeral Home and Cremation Service for almost 30 years. In 2007, it was sold to Bill Skinner of Skinner Funeral Home in Cumberland. A.J. Hyllengren's grandson, Brian, was a licensed funeral director with Skinner Funeral Home for many years.


Looking Forward
There are many traditions surrounding funeral service, deserving of much respect. At the same time, we too must respond to changing consumer requests, continuing to evolve along with our culture, technology, and daily life. We are proud to remain a family-owned and operated funeral home after all of these years. With four locations, we have a unique ability to offer expanded services and options, such as:

  • An entire team of dedicated professionals, including funeral directors licensed in both Wisconsin and Minnesota, for deaths that occur locally or out-of-state. Click here to learn more about our staff.
  • A crematory in our Turtle Lake facility, and refrigeration, which allows us to handle all aspects of cremations ourselves, for all four of our locations.
  • A technologically advanced casket and urn selection process - being lead into a room full of caskets can be intimidating, and can often cause people to rush their decisions. We use morden technology to help families access a larger inventory of products and merchandise for more personalization.
  • This updated selection process allowed us to convert former casket rooms into more spacious areas for refreshments, family gatherings and funeral lunches at each of our locations.
  • A greater online presence - this website features ample content on funeral planning, pre-planning, burial and cremation arrangements and more, so you can search within the comfort and privacy of wherever you are. We recently improved our obituary-memorial pages to include guest books and more personalization, and as of Summer 2011 you can Find us on Facebook, for one more way to receive information.

These are some of many unique services we offer, as Skinner Funeral Homes maintains our commitment to -Lighting the Path ~ Guiding the Journey" in funeral service for the families and communities we serve.

Cumberland
Phone: (715) 822-2345
Toll-Free: (800) 822-8535
Fax: (715) 822-2346
1245 1st Ave., Cumberland, WI 54829

Rice Lake
Phone: (715) 234-3533
Toll-Free: (800) 822-8535
Fax: (715) 234-1918
637 N. Main St., Rice Lake, WI 54868

Shell Lake
Phone: (715) 468-7871
Toll-Free: (800) 822-8535
Fax: (715) 822-2346
511 1st St., Shell Lake, WI 54871

Turtle Lake
Phone: (715) 986-2345
Toll-Free: (800) 822-8535
Fax: (715) 822-2346
260 Industrial Blvd., Turtle Lake, WI 54889

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Crafted with care by Frazer Consultants and TA

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