Our Beginnings

Joseph Kuncl was born in Bohemia in 1873. At the age of 17, he came to the Crete area and eventually attained the position of manager of  the furniture department of M.E. Haight's Crete Mercantile Company. The store, which was located on the east side of Main Street between 13th and 14th streets, was associated with an undertaking business, as was common at the time. Joseph went to Omaha to observe and learn about embalming, and in 1914, he and Joseph Vavricka of Blue Hill, purchased the business from Haight. The name of the business changed to Mercantile Furniture and Undertaking Company. Joseph Kuncl bought Vavricka's portion of the business in the 1920's, and the name changed to Kuncl Furniture and Undertaking.