Craig Louis Dengel, the Managing Funeral Director of Dengel & Son Mortuary, is the third generation to manage Dengel & Son Mortuary. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Walter, and his grandfather, Louis. As a youngster of twelve, he began his career in the funeral business at the bottom of the ladder, washing cars and mowing the lawn for his grandfather at the funeral home. He continued helping at the funeral home all through high school and during the summers while in college.

Craig graduated from Ottawa High School in 1978, from Kansas City Community College with an Associate Arts Degree in Mortuary Science in 1980, and from Fort Hays State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration in 1983. After college, he returned to Ottawa and joined his father in business.

In 1988, he married Cynthia Lee.  Although Cindy was born in Japan and in 1978 graduated high school in San Diego and later graduated from Baker University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management, she has family roots here in Ottawa and Franklin County.  Her father, Joe, and Craig’s father, Walt graduated from Ottawa High School together in the same class of 1954.

Craig and Cindy have 3 children: Jennifer lives in Olathe and is a registered nurse; Christina lives in Perry and is a grade school teacher and Chase lives in Ottawa and we are proud to announce that after graduating from mortuary science school he is the 4th generation funeral director/embalmer at Dengel & Son.  Craig and Cindy have 6 grandchildren.

Craig is proud to be a third-generation funeral director serving Ottawa, continuing the family tradition of excellence in funeral service. Growing up in Ottawa, being a part of this community, and having lifelong friendships and acquaintances, influenced his every business decision. This is more than just business to Craig; this is a personal commitment to friends and neighbors.

Walt Dengel, son of the founder of Dengel & Son Mortuary, Louis Dengel, grew up in Ottawa and graduated from Ottawa High School in 1954. He grew up living in an apartment on the second story of the funeral home with his parents, Louie and Vada Dengel, and his sister, Naomi. He has many fond memories growing up in Ottawa and often recalls events that happened years ago with his coffee buddies. Living on top of a funeral home had its own special memories.

After high school, he went to Emporia State Teacher’s College where he met his future wife, Clarice Steffes. After college and a stint in the Army, Clarice and Walt were married in her hometown of Olpe, Kansas in 1958. In short order, they had three children, Craig, Carol, and Mark.

In 1961, Walt brought Clarice and family to his hometown, Ottawa, and went to work for his Dad, Louie, at the funeral home. Walt and Louie worked together until Louie died in 1973 and Walt took over the reins of the funeral home. The kids were getting older and Clarice began helping at the funeral home.

Walt welcomed their oldest son, Craig into the business in 1983. It was a good partnership. In 1998, Walter and Clarice retired from the funeral business and sold the funeral home to their son Craig. They bought a second home in Florida and spent eight months every year there for fourteen years.

Walt and Clarice moved back to Ottawa permanently in 2013. They said it was time to come home.  Walt is so happy to be able to help at the funeral home. He is renewing old friendships and visiting with people he hasn’t seen in years. He is in his element. Clarice is equally happy to be back home, enjoying old friends and being close to family.

Kim Hopkins filled a new position at Dengel & Son Mortuary in Ottawa. Previously, owner Craig Dengel took care of the “business” side of the business. Craig spent a lot of time in his office paying bills, taking care of payroll, and organizing documents for an outside agency. Craig would much rather have been working with families. When three funeral homes in Miami County were added to Dengel & Son Mortuary, this created a new position for someone to take responsibility for the company’s bookwork.

In September of 2018, Kim took that responsibility and has done an excellent job ever since. She didn’t exactly learn from scratch the inner workings of our business. Kim formerly worked as an accountant for 32 years for Greenfield & Davidson, Chartered and while there, our funeral home was one of her accounts. We knew her work ethic and how proficient she was, so we are grateful to have her here. Craig is now back doing what he loves, working with families, and has no worries about the books now that Kim has taken on the job.

Kim’s job is not all about numbers, occasionally you will find her in the front office answering the phone and greeting visitors. She is one of the nicest people you will meet.  Kim is friendly and always has a smile on her face.

Kim is a Franklin County local. She grew up in Michigan Valley, attended Appanoose Elementary, and graduated in 1984 from Pomona High School. She furthered her education by attending Allen County Community College earning her associate degree. Kim has lived in Ottawa for more than 35 years and as a single mother raised two daughters all on her own. Kim worked long hours to provide for her family but was quick to give credit to her parents for their help. Her daughters reflect the great job she did raising them. One daughter has a bachelor’s degree in education and the other daughter has a doctorate in physical therapy. That is a success story of a determined woman! Besides spending time with her girls and grandchildren, Kim likes to read, bake, and quilt.

Chase Dengel is the fourth generation of the Dengel family to join Dengel & Son Mortuary. Chase grew up in Ottawa and graduated from Baker University in 2013 where he played baseball and earned a degree in business. He worked for a few years in Kansas City in managerial positions. When we purchased three funeral homes in Miami County in 2018, we needed him, and he stepped up.

Since joining the firm, he has been studying for his Mortuary Science Degree. This includes science, business, and law courses. As for the practical side of embalming, his dad Craig, is teaching him the art of embalming and instilling in him the importance of doing it right no matter how long it takes. Chase is lucky to be able to learn both at the same time.

Presently, he oversees all cremations and monument sales. We do many cremations in the course of a year. We installed a state-of-the-art crematory several years ago and we have area funeral homes depending upon us to do their cremations as well. In addition, we do the cremations for our funeral homes in Miami County. When Chase is not in the crematory, he enjoys helping families design meaningful works of art on monuments to pay tribute to their loved ones. Of course, he is always involved when funerals, burials, and visitations are held. There is much to be learned that is not found in books.

Chase’s main goal is the continued success of Dengel & Son Mortuary. He wants to ensure that our funeral home continues our family tradition of excellence in funeral service when we celebrate our 100th year anniversary of serving Ottawa and Franklin County in 2044.

Brett Silance has been working for Dengel & Son since June 2018. He started at the Louisburg facility before he graduated from high school. He found a passion early in his teens helping others during their time of loss. To that end, he graduated from Kansas City Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Mortuary Science. He graduated Cum Laude and was a regular on the President’s Honor Roll.

He is licensed as a Kansas Funeral Director, Embalmer, and Crematory Operator. He worked with us during his apprenticeship, and we are extremely happy with the progress he has made throughout. Brett is proficient in operating our crematory as well as meeting with families and directing funeral services as a Funeral Director. Although he is based in Louisburg, you can find him assisting at all three funeral homes, Ottawa, Paola, and Louisburg. He is a hard worker and we appreciate his good work ethic.

Brett was raised in Louisburg and graduated from Louisburg High School in 2019. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his parents and two older brothers. When he is not with his family he likes to hang out with his friends. He also helps organize fundraisers for the scholarship in memory of his uncle.

Brett is a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Louisburg. He is also a Third Degree Member of the Knights of Columbus Council #12437. 

If you are wondering why a young man, not even out of high school, would choose a career in the funeral business, this is one of the reasons why. Brett lost three family members in just four years and because of this experience, he thought he could be of help to families going through a similar loss.

Funeral Director Chadwick D. Wilson is a lifelong Paola resident.  A third-generation funeral director, he was raised in the funeral home and grew up helping in and around the funeral home.  He joined his father Charles and grandfather Roy in the family business in 1974 and continues to provide Paola families with service and comfort to this day.

Chad is a former president of the Paola Lions Club, Ambassador Club member, Paola Country Club Men's Association president, former Red Cross safety director, and First Presbyterian Church deacon.