Edwards brothers continue Cromes family tradition

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SIDNEY — In 2016 Cromes Funeral Home was privileged to serve more than 250 families in the Sidney and Shelby County community. This past year the funeral home opened a new chapter in its history of over 75 years.

“On Aug. 31, 2016, my brother, Erik and I purchased the family business from Gary and Ralph Cromes. Ohio law required that our last name be added to the funeral home, so we are now serving the community as Cromes-Edwards Funeral Home & Crematory Inc.,” said Aaron Edwards.

His report continues:

The transfer of ownership was one that was carefully thought out and well planned. With the hiring of myself in 2006, and my brother in 2009, we had a lot of time to learn the ins and outs of the business and become even more acquainted with the community we grew up in. The manner in which the Cromes’s have served families in the community and managed the family business is something that Erik and I have been ingrained with, and will continue far into the future.

In the last few years we have been able to add two more licensed funeral directors/embalmers to our staff. Lucas Snapp joined the funeral home in May of 2013. He is a Logan County native but has relocated to Sidney with his wife, Chandra, and their two children. Jeremy Richards grew up in Sidney and joined the funeral home in 2015 after serving as a volunteer firefighter/ paramedic. He and his wife Mary reside in Sidney as well.

William “Bill” Stamm, who has been associated with the funeral home for over 40 years is still faithfully working for the funeral home. Gary and Ralph are officially retired, even though Gary spends quite a bit of time in the funeral home. We like to joke with Gary and tell him that he is in the funeral home more now than when he was actually “working.” We have always had a great working relationship with the Cromes’s and that relationship continues.

I’ve been asked by a lot of people, ” what kind of changes are you guys going to make?” I always tell them that the Cromes’s had the confidence in us to make the changes we wanted while we were still employees. With the addition of our audio/visual equipment, the on-sight crematory, and our wide selection of burial and cremation products and services we feel that we have stayed ahead of the curve in funeral home trends, and we are always open to suggestions and new ideas. We don’t anticipate any major changes in the near future, but those that we do decide to make will be for the benefit of the families that we serve.

Erik and I feel very honored and blessed to have the opportunity to become business owners, and to serve the community that we grew up in. The life of a funeral director can be hard at times, with middle of the night calls from a grieving family to long hours spent making arrangements and working visitations and services, but it’s a life we have grown to love. We have wonderful employees and a community that has embraced us, and for that we are very grateful.

For anyone who has questions regarding the funeral home, pre-arranging their funeral or funerals in general I would encourage them to visit our website at cromesfh.com or contact us by phone at 937-492-5101.

The Cromes family tradition continues at Cromes-Edwards Funeral Home. Serving the community through the funeral home are, front row, left to right, Ralph Cromes, former owner/funeral director; Erik Edwards, owner/funeral director; Aaron Edwards, owner/funeral director; and Gary Cromes, former owner/funeral director; and back row left to right, Jeremy Richards, funeral director; Lucas Snapp, funeral director; and Bill Stamm, funeral director.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2017/02/web1_Cromes-Edwards.jpgThe Cromes family tradition continues at Cromes-Edwards Funeral Home. Serving the community through the funeral home are, front row, left to right, Ralph Cromes, former owner/funeral director; Erik Edwards, owner/funeral director; Aaron Edwards, owner/funeral director; and Gary Cromes, former owner/funeral director; and back row left to right, Jeremy Richards, funeral director; Lucas Snapp, funeral director; and Bill Stamm, funeral director. Courtesy photo

For the Sidney Daily News

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