The owners of Caturia, Smidt & Starkson Funeral Home & Crematory and Wise Family Funeral & Cremation Services in Hastings, Minnesota, are pleased to announce their decision to merge their businesses.

This opportunity will bring longevity, continued dedication and expanded professional funeral service to Hastings. With this partnership, the Starkson and Wise families are thrilled to provide community reception space, an onsite crematory, affordable funeral options, preplanning education, aftercare programming, and best of all, a focus on personalized service.

Although the Starksons will hold the assets of both funeral homes, the Wises will be an integral part of operations in the collaborative environment being formed. Both businesses have expansion projects underway; however, they will be changed in ways that benefit this joint effort. They plan for the organizations to come together in December.

Michael and Mary Wise bring many years of combined experience to the team, which adds to the longstanding reputation of service provided by Caturia, Smidt & Starkson. With the number of funeral directors decreasing in the profession nationwide, this fills an immediate need for an expanded staff of funeral professionals and creates a beneficial impact on how families are cared for in the future. Joining forces allows all team members from both organizations to come together and work from a place of strength by implementing best practices and creating nurturing relationships to make a difference for those they serve.

The community will begin to see the two organizations merge over the next few months. The future use of the both facilities is yet to be determined. All existing family records and any preneed arrangement files will remain in the care of the respective facilities until the physical move in December.