Establishing a Tradition

Our story begins in January of 1910, when Harry Ernest Turner, a native of Clarendon, and Harry D. Bartlett of Holley, bought the Williamson Furniture and Undertaking Store. 

The furniture and funeral combination wasn’t unusual at the time.  Historians believe early furniture stores carried coffins and other funeral accessories, which made them a natural link to the funeral business.

Turner, who worked 10 years in a furniture store in Holley before purchasing the Batavia store, published a weekly newspaper, The Holley Standard, as a sideline.  Bartlett served as Orleans County Clerk in the early 1900’s, and the pair also had a joint interest in stores in Byron and Holley, which they sold a few years after they came to Batavia. 

H.E. Turner & Co. was operated at 111 Main St, the former Newberry Building until 1921 when it was moved to the Cary Mansion at 211 East Main St.  14 years later the firm moved to the Bean Mansion at 403 East Main St, where it remains today.

Harry Turner served as president until his death on January 30, 1949, when James B. McCulley and Harold J. Bishop took over.  The furniture line was gone by the time Bishop assumed sole ownership of the business following McCulley’s death in 1953. 

Bishop continued the business with the help of new associates, Harold Kruger and Edward Canty, for a dozen years preceding his own death in 1965, at which time, Canty became head of the funeral home.  He and Kruger carried on the Turner tradition with the help of Amos Grefrath and George Patterson.

Mr. Canty retired in 1972, at which time Patterson took over as president.  Kruger retired in 1975.  Patterson died in December of 1976, and management became the responsibility of James F. Smith, Amos Grefrath and Ed Canty’s nephew, James Canty. 

Smith worked at the former Bohm Mortuary before he came to Turner’s.  He became president of the firm in 1977.

As the business grew, so did Smith’s desire to continue the Turner tradition of fine service to the community.  He opened the funeral home in Bergen in July of 1988. 

Amos retired in 1986.  Jim Canty retired in 1992, leaving Jim Smith the sole owner of the funeral home.

With the Bergen location in operation, and renovation and restoration on the 403 East Main property completed, Smith purchased the Bohm Mortuary from Robert and Laura Bohm in December of 1993, renaming it Bohm-Calarco-Smith Funeral Home, and so, began another major renovation project.

The Bohm Mortuary was founded in 1927 by William Bohm, and his son, Clarence.  Like H.E. Turner & Co., the firm was originally a combination furniture/undertaking store located on Center Street. As trends changed within the funeral business, the firm moved in 1930, to 308 East Main Street, where it remains today.  

Clarence ran the funeral home until his death in 1953 with the help of William Glynn and Vic Powell.  Tony Cecere was employed with the firm from 1940-1960.  After Clarence's death, William Glynn assumed the manager's role.  During this time, Richard was a student at Cornell University and Robert was serving with the Navy.  Dick graduated from Cornell and received his funeral director's license and remained with the funeral home until Bob's discharge from the Navy.  Bob was licensed in 1957, after which, Dick left for the Priesthood, leaving Bob manager of the business.  He remained until H.E. Turner purchased the firm in 1993, and continued to work until his death in 2004. 

2009 saw continued growth with the purchase of Burdett & Sanford Funeral Home in Oakfield from Mike and Diane Zakes.  Burdett & Sanford has an interesting history as well.  The original funeral home in Oakfield was located on Main Street in what is now the Village Offices.  It was owned by Emmery Root.  Ellis Burdett worked for Emmery and upon Root's death in 1940, Burdett tried to purchase the firm.  However, an agreement was never made.  With the closing of Root's firm, Ellis opened the Burdett Funeral Home on Maple Avenue, which was across the street from our current location.

Our current location was built circa 1828 and was the office of Dr. Messinger from approximately 1905-1944, when Ellis Burdett purchased the building, thus moving the funeral home to 11 Maple Avenue.  In 1950, Ellis' son-in-law, LeRoy "Bud" Sanford joined the firm, renaming it Burdett & Sanford Funeral Home.

The partners sold the firm to Larry Davis in 1969 who operated the funeral home until he sold it to Michael Zakes in 1975. 

In October of 2012, Mr. Smith transferred ownership of the firm to his two sons, Justin D. Calarco-Smith, Joshua J. Smith and his longtime trusted friend and employee, Randy W. McIntire.  The partners are joined in the business by Steven L. Johnson.

Today, we are proud to carry on a tradition started over 100 years ago.  It has long been our belief that service is about more than thick carpet, shiny hearses, and expensive advertising.  It is about experience, commitment, and trust.  We are honored to be the most trusted funeral service provider in Genesee County.