Brown Funeral Home

By BOB HANSEN - bhansen@newsexaminer.comLeonard Urban tells how he got into the funeral business and ended up in Connersville as a series of fortunate events.Urban, a former Connersville mayor, recently traveled to the Indiana Statehouse to receive a Century Award for what is now the Urban-Winkler Funeral Home. The award, from the Indiana Department of Commerce, recognizes companies that have been in business for at least 100 years. It’s been in business since 1902, when Charles E. Thompson started it as the C.E. Thompson Funeral Home in the 600 block of Central Avenue.Reflecting on the award, Urban realized that’s he’s been associated with the business for almost half of that time, 52 years. But, as opposed to the fictional Lemony Snicket’s series of unfortunate events, Urban says he ended up where he is through hard work and good breaks from friends, relatives and mentors. Every Memorial Day, he places flowers on the graves of some of the people who’ve been good to him.His run of fortunate events started 60 years ago when Urban was 15. His mother was so poor that she picked up potatoes left in the field to buy clothing so the kids could go to school.He had a job helping a neighborhood florist shop and greenhouse owned by George and Eva Braddish. As he and George were delivering flowers, a funeral director, Bill Ebbingboe, saw him and asked if Leonard would be able to help him put a dead body into a casket. George said he would. Leonard became interested in becoming a mortician. “When the other kids were out playing basketball, I was reading ‘Casket and Sunnyside’ magazine,” Urban said, recalling a trade publication that has since gone out of business.In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where Urban grew up, it’s cold in the winter, so cold that graves can’t be dug. Morticians would stop burying the dead about Nov. 15 – conveniently, the first day of hunting season – and start back up in late April. Then, they’d bury three or four people a da... (bhansen@newsexaminer.com - Newsexaminer)