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Why Choose Weerts Funeral Home |
Our Funeral Directors
Why Family Owned is Preferred to Corporate Owned
| History of Weerts Funeral Home | Our
Affiliations
Charles D. Sellevold
Licensed Funeral Director
Click to Email Chuck
Chuck has been a licensed funeral director for over 35 years and is licensed
in the states of Iowa, Illinois and his home state of Wisconsin, where he
completed his education. He has been active in state funeral directors associations
and numerous civic and fraternal organizations, including being a founding
member and Charter President of the Pleasant Valley, Iowa, Lion’s Club.
Chuck has been a resident of the Quad-Cities since 1983.
He joined the staff of the Weerts Funeral Home in 1993 and believes in our commitment to helping others "Celebrate Life”. Chuck makes his home with his wife Kathy in LeClaire, Iowa. They have three adult children and six grandchildren. He and Kathy attend church at Our Lady of the River in LeClaire.
Christopher P. Bode
Licensed Funeral Director
Click to Email Chris
Chris was born and raised in the North Central Iowa town of Algona. He attended Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa where he played football and graduated with bachelor degrees in Psychology and Sociology. Chris went on to Worsham College of Mortuary Science near Chicago. Upon graduation from Worsham in 1996, he was recognized by the National Association of Colleges of Mortuary Science with the Mu Sigma Alpha Award.
Chris is a licensed funeral director in both Iowa and Illinois. He joined the Weerts staff in November of 2004. It was the professionalism of the staff and their dedication to provide a unique and meaningful service to each family that drew Chris to the Weerts team. The opportunity to serve the community through funeral service is considered a ministry to Chris.
He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, Fr. Betson Council and has also been active in Jaycees, serving in several leadership roles. He has also been a member of the Iowa, Illinois, and National Funeral Directors Associations. In addition, Chris currently serves as the President of the Mississippi Valley Funeral Directors Association.
You may see Chris in his personal time on a local bike path or golf course. He enjoys all outdoor activities, especially sharing them with family and friends. Moline is now home to Chris and his wife, Dawn, a family practice physician in the Illinois Quad Cities. They have a daughter, Makenna, born in 2005, and a son, Braedon, born in 2007. The Bode's are members of Christ the King Church in Moline.
Terry P. Gahagan
Licensed Funeral Director
Terry was born and raised right here in Davenport, graduating from Assumption High School in 1975. He earned his Mortuary Science degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and has been a funeral director for over 30 years.
Funeral service came naturally for Terry – his father, Al Gahagan, is also a funeral director. Although his father has been retired for several years now, Terry attributes his early interest in funeral service completely to his father. “My Dad helped me understand that funeral service is really a great avenue of service to give back to the community…,” Terry says. “I knew I wanted to be a funeral director by the time I was 16 years old.”
Terry and his wife Mary live in Davenport where they are active members of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church. Mary, a Registered Nurse, owns and operates the Manna House, a private care facility in Davenport.
The Gahagan’s have two daughters, Allison, a senior at the University of Iowa and Meryl, a sophomore at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.
David W. Deuth, CFSP
Owner & Licensed Funeral Director
Click to Email Dave
A
native of Pipestone, Minnesota, Dave attended South Dakota State University
in Brookings, South Dakota, graduating with Bachelor degrees in Psychology
and Sociology. His Mortuary Science degree was earned with Distinction from
the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Dave joined the Weerts Funeral Home staff in 2000 after working several years as a funeral director in Minnesota. In late 2003, he became a partner in the firm with Jim Weerts. This partnership resulted in Dave being named as President and Chief Operating Officer of the firm, and Jim as the Chief Executive Officer. "We have a rich history of local ownership, all the way back to 1906", Jim stated. "It's important that this tradition continues. It's an honor for me to welcome Dave into the 'Weerts family' and into the ownership of Weerts Funeral Home." Dave assumed ownership of the firm in late 2005, providing a seamless continuation of our 100-year history of local, family ownership.
His wife, Linda, is an elementary teacher at Grant Wood Elementary School in Bettendorf. They have two great kids, Evan and Madelyn, both students at Bettendorf High School. They are active members of Harvest Bible Chapel in Davenport. Dave is also an active member and Paul Harris Fellow of the Bettendorf Rotary Club, where he currently serves as the President-Elect.
In the summer of 2004, having fulfilled all the requirements of the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice, Dave was conferred with the title of "Certified Funeral Service Practitioner", or "CFSP". The Academy acknowledges and certifies the extraneous efforts of licensed funeral directors throughout the world in their service to others and in their commitment to lifelong learning. This voluntary certification program requires candidates to excel in three primary disciplines: Academic, Professional Activities, and Public Education & Civic Service.
At the time this designation was awarded to him, Dave became the only registered CFSP in the Quad Cities, and only the 18th CFSP in the entire state of Iowa. He is a licensed as a funeral director in the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota, and also holds a Life Insurance license in the state of Iowa.
"The opportunity to serve the communities of the Quad Cities as a funeral director is truly a special privilege", Dave comments. "In a very real way, we become part of your 'family' for a time - not just to manage important details, but to get to know you and share in this experience with you. It's why we do what we do. Funeral service is our ministry to our community."
"We understand well that there is a big difference between "having a funeral" and creating meaningful memories. We are honored by the tremedous privilege to embrace each family as though they were our own and help create meaningful memory experiences. We want to help you "Remember Well".
James F. Weerts
CEO Emeritus
Jim
has been a part of the family business since becoming a licensed funeral director in 1960. He attended Northwestern
University and graduated from the University of Minnesota before returning to Davenport to join his family in service to others through the family funeral home. Largely retired today, Jim's presence is abundantly evident in every facet of the ministry that is Weerts Funeral Home.
Jim has been very active in our communities, organizing, developing and serving as the first president of the hospice movement in Scott County; served as president of both the Scott County and Mississippi Valley Heart Associations; past-president of the Davenport Rotary Club where he is a Paul Harris Fellow and chaired for many years the prestigious Rotary Scholarship and Loan Fund; and co-developed two residential sub-divisions in Bettendorf.
Jim continues to serve as president and manager of Oakdale Memorial Gardens since 1989, and of “Love of Animals” Petland, a pet cemetery developed as a memorial to his wife Sandy who died in 1992.
“It is a passion of mine to help families collect the memories of a lifetime. I also feel it is our responsibility to help teach younger generations the value of life through our rituals at death. Gladstone said, ‘Show me the way a nation buries its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the character of its people’. It’s a privilege to help a family gather memories and to ‘Celebrate the Life’ of their loved one.”
Weerts Funeral Home is one of the most respected and oldest funeral homes in the Quad-City area, with a long established history of quality, compassionate care to members of our communities at one of the most difficult times of their lives.
The firm traces its origins back to 1906, when Oswald C. Hill established the business in Davenport. In 1919, his nephew George H. Fredericks joined him, and the business then became known as “Hill and Fredericks Mortuary”. Following O. C. Hill’s death in 1931, Mr. Fredericks purchased the company which he continued to own and operate until his retirement in 1955. He died August 31, 1970.
Upon Mr. Fredericks' retirement in 1955, Edward R. and Esther C. Weerts, both licensed morticians from Peru, Illinois acquired the business. Their two sons soon joined them -- E. Robert Weerts in 1956, and James Frederick Weerts in 1960. In 1964, a branch funeral home was constructed on Middle Road in Bettendorf. Edward R. Weerts died in 1971 -- after 48 years as a funeral director -- and his sons continued the family tradition of quality service to families of the Quad-Cities. By 1978, both facilities became known as "Weerts / Hill & Fredericks Mortuaries". Mrs. Weerts died February 9, 2004.
The Brady Street and Middle Road locations were closed when the present facility
at Kimberly and Jersey Ridge Roads was built, opening in 1986. This site was
chosen for its easier access, high visibility, relative location to five major
cemeteries, and improved parking. The emphasis on design was to create a residential
rather than a commercial feeling. The ranch-style exterior and the comfortable
home-like interior reflect the Weerts family's commitment to combine established
tradition with a modern atmosphere. Along with this new look came a new name...simply
“Weerts Funeral Home.”
In 1995, Robert Weerts retired and his brother Jim became the sole operator
and owner of Weerts Funeral Home. David Deuth joined Jim Weerts in the
ownership of the firm in 2003. In 2005, David became the sole owner of Weerts Funeral Home, continuing a commitment to local, family ownership that has endured for nearly a century.
Today, our commitment to local ownership, along with compassionate, professional service, remains steadfast...anchored in the principles of integrity, honor, and trust. We stand firm upon these principles as we prepare to begin our second century of service to Quad City area families.
We're proud of our heritage, and we're committed to the future. With our history as our pathway and integrity as our guide, we pledge Excellence in Funeral Service to the people of the Quad Cities area.
And we'll be here when you need us.
Remember Well.
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