Lohman Funeral Homes helps with history series

Nearly 200 attend lecture about Rockefeller funerals

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posted Sep 27, 2011 - 11:59:04am

Nancy Lohman of Lohman Funeral Homes, Cemeteries & Cremation, and a past president of the Ormond Beach Historical Society, kicked off the Florida Humanities Council "Discover Our History" Lecture Series Sept. 24 at the Anderson-Price Memorial Building in Ormond Beach, with a presentation on "The Three Funerals of John D. Rockefeller." It was the first lecture of the 2011-12 season. Nearly 200 people attended.

John D. Rockefeller had a home in Ormond Beach (The Casements) from 1917 until he died there in 1937, six weeks shy of his 98th birthday. His relationship with Ormond Beach is a treasured part of its history and The Casements serves today as a city cultural center, so there is always great interest in his life and times.

Nancy’s presentation, well-supported with a pictorial slide show and even a 1939 hearse parked in the front lawn, entertained the audience with a previously unexplored part of his story.

When her family purchased the oldest funeral home in Daytona Beach several years ago, they discovered funeral record books dating back to 1917, including that of John D. Rockefeller. That peaked her interest and she enlisted the help of her dear friend and colleague Todd van Beck to do extensive research on his funerals in Ormond Beach, Tarrytown, N.Y., and Cleveland, Ohio, his final resting place.

In addition to her presentation, Nancy enhanced her talk with a laminated memorial bookmark of Rockefeller’s obituary for each person in the audience, and she displayed memorabilia including John D. Rockefeller’s Funeral Record completed on May 23, 1937, the day John D. passed away, by Mr. Frank Wylie, funeral director. Mr. Wylie was the embalmer at Baggett & Summers, a Lohman Funeral Home, whose name at the time was Baggett, Weatherby and McIntosh. The funeral Home was owned by Billie Baggett, who served as the mayor of Daytona Beach.

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