Since 1929, the Eckard
Baldwin Funeral Home & Chapel has been proudly family
owned & operated, providing the most trusted funeral services
to the greater Akron community.
It all started with a dream, by
a little boy named Russell H. Eckard, also known as Russ, who was
born on a large farm in Wayne County, near Dalton, OH on January
14, 1900. Russ developed his exceptional work ethic at an early
age by working with is father on their Wayne County farm. While
working on the farm, Russ developed numerous hobbies stemming from
the work he performed everyday after school. His favorite hobby
was the growing of shrubs and flowers. After graduating from Dalton
high school, Russ entered Wooster College but during his time at
college The United States was at war with Germany so Russ did the
right thing by enlisting in the service despite only being seventeen
years old. After serving his country proudly, Russ decided to enroll
back in college at The Ohio State University where he studied embalming.
Upon completing his studies at the university, Russ started his
career at the C.F. Jackson Company in Springfield, which later
became the A.E. Brown Company of Cleveland, two of the leading
undertaking firms in Ohio. With experience under his belt, Russ
and his brother Merle decided to start their own undertaking business
at their house on Arlington St. on October 1, 1929.
The tradition
today is carried on by Russell’s
grandson Russell J Eckard who is the vice president of the company
and still to this day carries out his grandfather’s dream of
running the business.
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