Our History
The 177-Year History of Linn-Hert-Geib Funeral Home & Crematory
In 1846, when James K. Polk was President of the United States and the Civil War was still more than a decade away, what is now the Linn-Hert-Geib Funeral Home & Crematory was founded in New Philadelphia, Ohio. There were no paved roads, telephones, or automobiles when Joseph McElroy, a cabinet maker, migrated from St. Clairsville in the southeastern part of the state to New Philadelphia and established the Joseph McElroy Co. In this era, embalming and showing of the body were always held in the deceased’s home, and in most instances, a member of the family dressed and groomed the body in preparation for the viewing.
As a skilled furniture craftsman, he knew he could successfully operate a furniture business there; he did not know that his business would move, expand and eventually evolve into the oldest continuing business establishment in Tuscarawas County: The Linn-Hert-Geib Funeral Home & Crematory.
The 177-year evolution of this business, from simple cabinet shop to community and funeral service leader, reveals a society’s changing attitudes and needs, and one family’s five-generation desire to serve them.
Joseph McElroy’s company was a successful venture of its founder, and within a few years was moved closer to public square. For McElroy, as for all furniture-makers of his time, the funeral business was a sideline. His role was simply to construct and deliver a casket to the bereaved, and to transport the casket in the funeral procession, but to provide no additional services. In the mid to late 1800s, there were no funeral homes; instead, the deceased’s family was responsible for preparing the body and providing facilities for visitation and services in the family home.
Eventually, McElroy offered additional options to his patrons. In 1887, he employed James Linn, who introduced the art of embalming to the community. When McElroy retired seven years later, Linn, who had married McElroy’s daughter, purchased the furniture/funeral business, and renamed it The James A. Linn Co. In 1902, he took well-known local upholster and undertaker Jacob A. Geib as a partner. One of Geib’s responsibilities was the creation of linings for the caskets.
Still, the focus of the firm was on the furniture business, and that same year, Geib and Linn relocated the successful J.A. Linn Co. to a newly constructed four-story building on E. High Ave. Adjoining the building was a stable, built to house the delivery carriages and the black and the white horses which apprised onlookers of the purpose of the wagon: white horses delivered furniture; black horses pulled the carriage if it carried a casket for a funeral procession. (As late as 1927, the horse-drawn hearse was still used in local rural areas where roads were too rough for the “new” motorized vehicles.
Fourteen years later, in 1916, Alfred E. Hert, the former manager of Dover’s Gintz Furniture and Funeral Home, joined the firm, and the Linn-Hert-Co. was incorporated, according to incorporation articles: “For the purpose of buying, selling and dealing in furniture, household furnishings, undertaking supplies and other merchandise and conducting a general furniture and undertaking business…” Linn was named president; Geib, vice-president; and Hert, secretary-treasurer.
In 1920, Jacob Geib’s son, Carl E. Geib joined the firm. Together, these four men took a bold and innovative step which would change the funeral industry in Tuscarawas County. In 1923, they purchased the John Marlow residence at 116 2nd St. NE. It was used briefly as a casket showroom, then opened as a funeral home where the many details formerly assumed by the funeral home where visitation and final services could be conducted and where the many details formerly assumed by the family could be handled by funeral home personnel. These new services were well received by the community and previewed the pioneering efforts which would be a trademark of the firm.
Like the furniture business, the funeral home division of the Linn-Hert organization continued to grow. To keep pace, the funeral home completed additions in 1933, 1936, and 1949. James Linn died in 1941, and in 1950, when A. E. Hert retired, Carl Geib assumed the role of company president. The next year, his son, Richard D. Geib Sr., joined the firm. He had graduated from Heidelberg College and the Cleveland College of Embalming, and the three generations of the Geib family worked together until Jacob Geib died in 1952.
Carl Geib held sole ownership of the company in 1958, and oversaw another remodeling and expansion program in 1966, when the name Linn-Hert-Geib Co. was adopted. Seven years later, the board of directors, to which Richard Geib Sr. had been appointed, closed the furniture division of the business to concentrate solely on the funeral home. The furniture building was razed in anticipation of further funeral home services.
When Carl Geib retired in 1971, Richard Sr. purchased the company, and spearheaded another remodeling project in 1973. The fourth generation of the Geib family, Richard D. Geib II, became associated with the firm two years later. Richard II, a graduate of Heidelberg College and a 1975 graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, was involved in the firm’s 1978 remodeling and in the complete renovation of the facility in 1981.
In 1984, Carl Geib died, and in 1987, The Geib Family Center was built and dedicated to his memory. The center, adjacent to the funeral home, was designed as a place for families and friends to gather following funeral services and as a location for community functions. It was another unique idea, well received by the community.
Following the retirement of Geib Sr. in 1992, Richard Geib II purchased the business and was named president of the firm. In 1995, he directed the addition of a cremation products selection room and expanded showroom facilities to feature the largest selection of funeral service merchandise in Tuscarawas County.
As cremation became a more desired form of disposition, Geib II saw the need to install an on-site crematory. “We can now guarantee dignified, convenient and local cremation by our own licensed staff. Every aspect of the funeral service can now be done at our crematory, providing peace of mind to the families we serve.” In August 1997, Geib’s installed the first human crematory in Tuscarawas County.
One of Linn-Hert-Geib’s traditions remains staying aware of the changing needs of the family’s they serve. Geib II saw a need to make funeral merchandise selection easier and to offer more. “Our goal is to create a meaningful, appropriate and affordable service. In order to do that, I thought it was necessary to create and install the Reflections Gallery.”
The Reflections Gallery offers a simpler way to select funeral merchandise, some of which includes caskets, vaults, urns, flag cases, pet keepsakes, sympathy cards, grief literature, registry books and keepsakes.
In January 2002, a fifth generation of the Geib family joined the firm. Anne Geib, daughter of Richard Geib II & Jenny Geib, joined the firm to continue Geib’s tradition of locally owned and family operated funeral service. Holding a degree in Public Communication, Anne began by overseeing the Community Relations, marketing efforts, and works on business and service development of the firm. In addition to her specialties in the business, she is also a licensed funeral director in the state of Ohio, and in February of 2011, Anne transitioned into the role of president.
After much research and request from the community, Geib’s constructed and opened a world-class funeral center located at Dover’s north end. This 11,000 sq. ft. facility, designed by J. Stewart Todd, hosts a plethora of funeral related services offering convenience, tradition, innovation, and most importantly, community desires. Construction of this facility was completed in January of 2005 and includes large visitation and service areas, a towering 36' central atrium, a children's lounge, a reception center that seats 110 guests, and both a human and pet crematory. Convenience to the families Geib serves is a hallmark of the building, having been designed to function in both a traditional funeral service environment, as well as a flexible, non-traditional space. Live bands, cocktail receptions, casual conversation, and unique food displays are often found in this space. Simultaneously, Geib Dover and New Philadelphia opened their keepsake galleries so the community could purchase chimes, blankets, frames, candles, and other memorialization items to gift to grieving friends and families.
Also incorporated into the design of the Geib Funeral Center at Dover is the Tuscarawas Valley’s first pet crematory. “After several members of the community inquired about pet cremation care, we decided it was a natural addition to our family’s care. We began caring for our community’s pets in this facility, having now provided more than 10,000 dignified pet cremations to local and regional pet families,” said Anne Geib. Keepsake items including cremation jewelry, custom urns, and memorial stones were added to the Geib galleries to memorialize pets.
In 2020, our nation was paralyzed by the effects of Covid 19. The pandemic created many difficult challenges for the funeral profession including creating environments that were safe for our families to celebrate a loved one’s life. The Geib team brainstormed and quickly established protocols that allowed for memorialization to continue. Geib offered the county’s only outdoor visitation space where the community could remain in their vehicles while paying respect to grieving families. Geib also developed several on-line media options for participating in funerals from the convenience of one’s home.
During its 177 years of service, the Geib care team has assisted in creating meaningful remembrances for more than 20,000 families in the Tuscarawas and surrounding counties. It has grown and changed with the community, and has remained true to its legacy of innovation by being the first to offer ambulance service, to provide handicapped-accessible entries, to install air-conditioning, to design its own funeral chapel, to have an on-site human crematory and separate pet crematory, to offer pre-need services to Tuscarawas County, and provide outdoor remembrance offerings through the Covid pandemic.
Building on the vision and insight of the firm’s founders, Geib has maintained a commitment to progress, a respect for tradition, and a goal of community satisfaction.
