Our History
We stand behind our reputation and will continue to serve our community with the values instilled by our funeral directors.
In 1917, Andrew Joseph (A.J.) Kucko began his career on Exchange St. in Akron. The business remained in downtown Akron until 1927, when the company constructed its second location on the corner of Grant and Wheeler Streets. Forced to move by Urban Renewal, Mr. Kucko opened his next facility at 123 East Waterloo Rd. in 1963. It was during the years at the East Waterloo that the funeral home experienced the most dramatic and in some events traumatic changes.
Mr. Kucko was forced to turn over the reins of the company he began to his son Tom Kucko following a serious heart attack. During Tom's tenure, the firm acquired a new name, Kutsko-Hecker. Kutsko was considered a phonetic spelling of the original Kucko and Curt Hecker, a long time employee of the firm was made a minority shareholder. Tom managed the company until its sale to his sister and her husband Patricia and Paul Anthony in 1969. Under Paul Anthony's leadership the firm name was changed to the Kucko-Anthony-Hecker Funeral Home and operated as such until the untimely and tragic deaths of Paul and Patricia Anthony on February 26, 1974. Following the defection of Mr. Hecker and a brief period of management by Mark Hayden (ending with his unexpected death in 1975) and James Burtchin, David Anthony assumed the helm and the firm became known as the Kucko-Anthony Funeral Home.
David eventually acquired full ownership of the firm and engineered the move, in 1987, to 95 West Waterloo Rd. with construction of a new facility. In conjunction with the opening of the new building was the merger with Stephen A. Kertesz of the Kertesz Funeral Home creating the Kucko- Anthony-Kertesz Funeral Home. In 1993, Dave and Steve added 7,000 square feet to the home, becoming the Akron area's largest facility and the first to provide a community room for memorial luncheons. In 1997 Earl Stampfle joined our family until his death in 2001. Our next project was the construction of a separate facility in the City of Green in 2000.
David opened a 6000 square foot facility located at 4178 Massillon Road (corner of Steese and Massillon Roads in Green)under the name of Anthony and Biscan Funeral Home. Mr. Biscan left the company in 2010 and the Green Home was renamed Anthony and Son Funeral Home of Green.
In November of 2002 we purchased the McGowan-Reid and Santos Funeral Home in Cuyahoga Falls from Frank and Sandy Santos for our third location.
2007 saw the sale of our Waterloo Rd. home to the Veterans Administration, who had purchased the Brown Derby restaurant nest door, for their expansion. While looking forward to this exciting chapter we kept sight of where we came from deciding to remain in Firestone Park with construction of yet another new home at 1990 S. Main Street, just six blocks north on a two acre site in Firestone Park. At 17,000 square feet we remain the largest facility in Summit County and still provide funeral luncheons (up to 100 people) and non-profit events in our Community Room.
Anthony Funeral Homes Today
The concept that drives the people of the Anthony Family Funeral Homes is that funerals and grief are very real -- real people, experiencing real grief, many for the first time, from real families. We don't look at a dead person as an opportunity to increase the bottom line. When a bereaved family walks through the door of one of our homes for the first time, we see an opportunity to help someone in pain. We know the firestorm of emotions you are experiencing. Your heart is on your sleeve and it is our job, our duty, to respect those sometimes frightening emotions by being gentle and soothing, but above all, honest. We are honored by your trust in us at such a time and we commit ourselves to earning that trust by being faithful to you and your needs This website is provided as a service to our customers, as well as for the greater community. Thank you for your interest in our company. Please feel free to Contact Us with any questions.
