(SB) – When Roger Waterbury arrived in Sergeant Bluff (May 8, 2004) and established Waterbury Funeral Service, located at 400-4th Street, he may not have known that what he began alone would grow slowly and surely over the years.
     It’s done just that.
     Today, at age 69, he and his wife Saundra, and his mother Mary Lou, and daughter Janet Kellogg (and daughter Jodie Stuhrenberg who owns Cutting Corner Barber Shop in Sergeant Bluff), funeral assistant Isabel Sanchez, and accountant Cindi Petit, have seen positive growth and a reputation of professionalism embraced in words like thoughtfulness, kindness, compassion, family, enduring, sensitivity, and care.
     Waterbury Funeral Service, Inc., with its two locations in Sergeant Bluff and Sioux City, now has two funeral directors – Allison Ingenthron and John Erdmann – joining with him. Like Roger, both encompass the same Iowa down-to-earth values that Roger brought with and established within Sergeant Bluff Waterbury Funeral Service 20 years ago.
     “I chose Sergeant Bluff,” Roger said, “because I found what I believed was a perfect location. Sergeant Bluff is centrally located in this area.”
     “When I came here, I came with the idea I wanted to make funerals affordable. With my overhead being lower when I arrived, I could actually do that. I was able to provide a similar and equal service, but at a lower price.”

     He did his own research. Looking at other funeral homes around the nation, Roger said he noted that, “Instead of having the visitation and service at the funeral home, they would seek to have both at the church and its community hall. I saw that as a help in two ways: One, it would keep my costs down, and two, importantly, it would serve to help the bereaved and family members, spiritually,” Waterbury explained. He added that in a another, related way, the “doors of the church would be open, perhaps to persons who did not attend church.” Also, in doing this, Roger said, “the emphasis would be with the church, and not the funeral home.”
     The latter provided what turned out to be unseen pathways for Waterbury.
In 2014, he secured his second building in Sioux City, at 4125 Orleans Avenue, in Morningside.
     All services expected of a funeral home are offered at Waterbury – immediate burials, traditional services, cremation – but Waterbury Funeral Service offers a unique remembrance medium. A trifold, containing up to 16 photos of the deceased from the most recent photo, to his/her childhood, teenage period, high school graduation photo, young adult, middle-aged, marriage photo, photo with children, and additional times in a person’s life is prepared for the family of the loved one who has passed away. Within the folder, also, is the person’s obituary.
     “It just makes a nice story about a person’s life,” Roger said.
     Waterbury offers prepay and payment services via Pekin Insurance Agency through Kelly Morgan and Sandi Headid. Pekin is a large, multi-state company.
     A funeral home is the last thing most people want to think about. But when the moment arises, it’s the first place they reach out to.
     “There are so many scenarios that happen,” Roger said. “Even though it may be an expected death, it can be, nonetheless, very, very difficult,” In all situations, Roger and his people earnestly seek to comfort, accommodate, and provide a service of love, care and understanding.
     Every instance is different, Roger explained. Some families may wish a certain kind of service, hold the visitation in a certain place, and any number of different needs. “There is no such thing as a ‘standard service,’” he said. “To serve each family in a proper manner, as a funeral home you must see to each family’s wishes.”
     Over the years, Waterbury Funeral Service has met the needs of local families, communities outside of Sergeant Bluff, Sioux City and “served every faith, every denomination, every ethnicity, and included the shipping of the remains overseas.”
     Persons in serious condition entering hospitals are asked to name their funeral home preference, others who may be on Hospice are asked of the patient’s funeral home wish, while in the case of sudden or unexpected death, a partner, families, or next of kin make funeral inquiries.
     Today, Waterbury Funeral Service is the only locally owned funeral home within a 30- mile radius. The family-owned funeral homes numbering six in Sioux City, were sold over a year ago, and all are now owned by a Canadian corporation known as Park Lawn.
     Sergeant Bluff can be proud to have Waterbury Funeral Service here and in Sioux City. They’re a family serving other families, and it shows.
     For additional information or inquiries, please contact Waterbury Funeral Service at either the Sergeant Bluff location (712-943-7100), or Sioux City (712)-276-7100).