Ewing Funeral Home takes over Dugger service

“It’s certainly a vocation. We’re blessed to be able to do it.”

So said Mike Ewing, son of Ewing Funeral Home founder Roger Ewing and current owner of the service. The small, family-owned business has been part of north central Iowa communities since the 70s. Recently, they announced that they were expanding; as of the first of the year, Ewing Funeral Home has taken ownership of the Dugger funeral homes in Belmond and Dows.

The Duggers and Ewings have worked with each other in one form or another for decades. Mike’s parents, Roger and Rickee Ewing, started working in the funeral service when they purchased funeral homes in Britt and Kanawha in 1977. Then, when they purchased the Fulton funeral home in Belmond in 1993, the Rob Dugger was hired as an additional funeral director. The Clarion and Dows funeral homes were purchased in 2001. When Roger (mostly)retired in 2005, Rob Dugger took over the service.

Then, Mike and his wife Brianne returned and started working in the family service. They took over the funeral homes in Britt, Kanawha, and Clarion in 2001, while Dugger continued to own and operate the Belmond and Dows funeral homes. Recently, the Dugger family decided to move, and now the Belmond and Dows funeral homes will go back into the Ewing service. “He had the opportunity to sell to us, and it was a natural fit,” Ewing said.

For more about the Ewing's work and community involvement, see the January 12 edition of the Monitor.