History

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.