Our History

The story of our funeral home begins over a hundred years ago, when Schubert Funeral Home was founded in Eudora in 1904 and Funk Mortuary was founded in Lawrence in 1909. The funeral homes were merged in 1953 by Fred Cooper and Bill Warren, and operated as Cooper & Warren until 1968 when Bill Warren purchased Cooper’s interest. The Lawrence funeral home, originally located at 1020 New Hampshire, later became known as Warren Mortuary. In 1968, future owner Larry McElwain began working at the funeral home as a night attendant while a student at the University of Kansas.

In 1971, our Lawrence funeral home moved to its new building at 120 W. 13th Street. Bill Warren died suddenly in June 1973, and in July 1974, the firm was purchased by Larry McElwain and his father Keith. Larry and Keith worked together, serving one family at a time, until Keith’s untimely death in December 1984. In January of 1985, Phil Padden moved to Lawrence and became a partner in the funeral home until April of 2011. In 2002, construction began on the Warren-McElwain Eudora Chapel. The beautiful, spacious funeral home includes an on-site crematory and is located on the east side of Eudora.

Larry McElwain continued as sole owner until October 2013 when he sold the funeral home to Jim Larkin, who established his home in Lawrence. Larry continued to serve as a funeral director for many years. Jim passed away in the 2025, at which time ownership of the funeral homes transitioned to fourth-generation funeral director, Ren Newcomer, and his son, John. Throughout our history, our service to Lawrence and Eudora has been characterized by compassion, respect and professionalism, and these values will be carried into the future by our superb team.