History
Our History
The Walton-Schrader Funeral Home was founded on December 13, 1951, by Earl M. Walton and his son-in-law, John B. "Jack" Schrader. Both men were licensed funeral directors and embalmers. During the firm's early history, steady growth had been experienced, necessitating its first expansion in 1960. In 1964, Mr. Walton retired as an active member of the firm and Jack Schrader purchased his interest. By 1971, a second expansion project was established, expanding the visitation and entrance areas. By the end of the 1970's, third generation family member, J. Philip Schrader, joined the firm which his grandfather and father had established. Both Jack and Phil Schrader operated the firm until Jack's retirement in the late 1980's, when Philip became principal owner. By 1996, the firm was purchased by Service Corporation International (SCI), a funeral consolidation corporation based in Texas, thus marking an end to the family owned business. SCI operated the firm until 2002, when they began to liquidate some of their holdings. In 2002, an opportunity became available to return the Walton-Schrader Funeral Home to local ownership. In an unprecedented move, two Alliance funeral directors, John B. Christian and Daniel T. Skivolocke, are now equal partners of the Walton-Schrader Funeral Home; even though their respective funeral homes still continue to be two separate entities. Together, with the objective to return the firm to local ownership and operation, their focus was also on improving service to those families who call on Walton-Schrader Funeral Home in their time of need.
