LONGTIME CAPE GIRARDEAU FUNERAL HOME TO MOVE

Lorberg Funeral Home, one of the oldest businesses in Cape Girardeau under the same name, is moving.

The funeral home, founded in 1910 as Harrig Furniture and Undertaking and changed to Lorberg a year later, has purchased the First Christian Church building at 829 N. West End Boulevard, which will be converted into the funeral home.

"We hope to be in the new facility within four to six weeks," said William H. Kuss, president of Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel and Monuments. "We'll have more room for growth."

The Lorberg family is no longer involved in the operation, but Lorberg Memorial Funeral Chapel still serves Cape Girardeau. It has been at 433 S. Sprigg for 66 years.

Kuss, James H. Kuss, and Betty Kuss became owners of Lorberg Funeral Home in 1989. All three are funeral directors and work in the business full time. The building at 433 S. Sprigg is leased.

First Christian Church was constructed in the mid-1950s.

"It's a beautiful building inside and out," said William Kuss. "The building has two chapels."

The first-floor chapel is on ground level with the parking lot and the second-floor chapel is level with the front entrance.

"Our exterior landscaping plan will include a circular driveway off Dunklin Street, around the front of the church and back to the parking lot," said Kuss. "Renovations are also planned for the interior of the building."

Kuss said no immediate plans were set for a utility building behind the church. "Right now we're focusing on the church building and grounds," said Kuss.

The congregation of First Christian Church discussed a new building about a year ago and earlier this month voted to move forward with construction of a new church at Abbey Lane and Kenneth.

Kuss' request for a special-use permit for the funeral chapel at 829 N. West End Boulevard was approved by the Cape Girardeau City Council in February.

The funeral home was founded by Martin G. Lorberg and a partner, Jacob LaCroix, as Harrig Furniture and Undertaking. Six months later Lorberg purchased his partner's interest in the company, which was first situated at Good Hope and Frederick and became known as Lorberg Furniture and Undertaking Co.

A few months later Lorberg introduced the first ambulance service in Cape Girardeau, a horse-drawn, ironed-wheel ambulance. This was the first such vehicle between St. Louis and Memphis.

In 1916, Lorberg updated the ambulance service, discarding the horse-drawn vehicle and purchasing a motorized ambulance.

The operation was moved to the 600 block of Good Hope, In 1920 it moved into a new building at 215 S. Sprigg. It was during the late 1920s that the business separated its funeral and furniture operations, moving to 433 S. Sprigg.

Carlton J. Lorberg, who joined his father as a partner in the business in 1930, assumed control of the business when his father died in 1958. The funeral home was remodeled into its present facility in 1959.

Following Carlton Lorberg's death in 1986, his wife, Amanda Lorberg, operated the funeral home until April 1987, when it was sold to John E. Carpenter and Bruce Dockins, a funeral director who had interests in two other funeral homes McCombs at Jackson and Chiles-Cooper at Bloomfield.

Two years later the funeral home was sold to the Kusses.