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Draft:Flanner and Buchanan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: There are a number of signs that AI was used to assist this article. ChrysGalley (talk) 19:38, 7 August 2026 (UTC)
Flanner Buchanan
FormerlyFlanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers
Flanner & Buchanan
IndustryFuneral services
Founded1881 in Indianapolis, Indiana
FoundersFrank Flanner
John Hommown
Headquarters
Indianapolis, Indiana
,
United States
Number of locations
13 funeral homes (2026)
Websitewww.flannerbuchanan.com

Flanner Buchanan (formerly Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers and Flanner & Buchanan) is a funeral and cremation service provider in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1881, today Flanner Buchanan operates 13 funeral homes in the Indianapolis metropolitan area.[1][2]

As one of few firms in the nation that owned and operated its own crematory, Flanner and Buchanan was an early delegate for the Cremation Association of North America at its founding in 1913.[3] Flanner Buchanan has remained family owned and operated throughout its history.[4]

History

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Founding

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Founded by Frank Flanner and John Hommown in 1881, the first funeral parlor by the company was located at 172 North Illinois Street.[4] In 1884, the pair sold a one-third share to Peter Wright, who later sold his portion back to Flanner.[4] The funeral parlor took on the name Flanner and Buchanan when Charles J. Buchanan, Flanner's brother-in-law, purchased Hommown's portion of the business sometime between 1886 and 1887.[4][5][6][a]

Flanner was the first licensed embalmer in Indiana.[6] A 1901 Indianapolis Journal feature stated that nearly 10,000 funerals could be attributed to the company, doubling the number attributed to any other funeral provider by the local Board of Health.[7] The Indianapolis Journal reported in 1904 that Flanner & Buchanan planned to build the second crematorium in Indiana.[4][8][b] Flanner & Buchanan became the first to offer a motorized ambulance service in Indianapolis in 1909.[4][6]

Growth

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The organization was incorporated in 1911.[4] After Frank Flanner's suicide in 1912, Charles Buchanan became president of Flanner and Buchanan.[4]

Following the installation of the crematorium in the early 1900s, Buchanan attended the first gathering of the nation's crematorium owners, which later became the Cremation Association of North America.[3] Charles Buchanan served as president of the organization from 1922 to 1925.[3]

In the decades that followed, Flanner Buchanan expanded by opening new branch locations across Indianapolis. Their first branch was opened in 1954 in Broad Ripple, followed by locations in Lawrence, Carmel, and the Washington Park East Cemetery grounds.[4] The company also acquired Phillippi Mortuary in Zionsville in 1955 and Farley Funeral Homes in 1967.[4]

Flanner Buchanan has remained family-owned, with members of each family taking on ownership at different times.[4]

21st century

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Flanner Buchanan has added several new locations and expanded its offerings to include private events, such as weddings and parties, memorials and signage, and as a distributor of caskets and urns nationwide.[4]

In 2014, Bruce W. Buchanan became the sole owner of Flanner Buchanan.[4]

The company also acquired Lavenia & Summers in 2016, retaining the staff and name of the historic local funeral home while bringing ownership back to Indiana.[9][10]

In celebration of its 140th anniversary in 2021, the Indiana Historical Society Press published a history of the Flanner and Buchanan families written by Julie Young, titled Building Community: The Flanner and Buchanan Families of Indianapolis.[11]

Founder

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Francis William (Frank) Flanner was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio in 1854, to a family of Quakers.[4][6] The family relocated to Indianapolis when he was nine, after the death of his father, where he helped his mother run a boardinghouse on the corner of New York and Meridian Streets.[5][6] He later trained to become a Latin teacher, but an apprenticeship with Indianapolis' leading undertaker Charles Kregelo led the young apprentice to begin his own undertaking service in 1881.[12][6][c]

Flanner married Mary Ellen Hockett, a schoolteacher and Quaker, in 1886.[4][6] They had three daughters, Marie, Hildegarde, and Janet.[6]

By 1888, Flanner & Buchanan had hired a "lady attendant" to provide postmortem care to women.[6][13] By 1901, no longer just referred to as a lady attendant, Flanner & Buchanan were advertising a "lady embalmer for ladies and children" in the Indianapolis Journal.[13] Flanner told the Indianapolis Journal that he "hardly sees now how they ever got along" without lady attendants, Ann Murphy and Nettie Thomas.[6]

Flanner was involved in many community organizations, with special interest for charitable work.[12][6] In 1898, Flanner donated a property located on Indiana Avenue to be dedicated as a community center that would provide African Americans with opportunities for healthcare, education, and job training.[5][14] The Charity Organization Society, of which Flanner was a member, assumed responsibility for managing the property after its donation.[5] Officially formed as the Flanner Guild in 1903, leadership of the center was taken over by the Christian Women's Board of Missions after Flanner's death and renamed Flanner House in his honor.[5][14]

Flanner and his family traveled to Germany in 1910 in an attempt to restore Flanner's failing health.[5][6] While in Germany, Flanner received news that he had lost money on an invention, referenced by Historic Indianapolis as "something like a teletype machine."[6] After returning to Indianapolis, his mental health declined and he developed a "nervous condition" according to the Indianapolis News.[12][6] He died by suicide on February 17, 1912, after consuming poison in the chapel of the funeral parlor.[12][6]

Family members

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Janet Flanner

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Janet Flanner (1892–1978) was the second child born to Frank and Mary Hockett Flanner.[6][15] She was a journalist, author, essayist, and news correspondent. Writing under the pen name Genêt, she wrote a variety of letters, profiles, and "Reporter at Large" pieces for The New Yorker while living in Paris.[15][16]

Paul H. Buchanan Jr.

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The grandson of co-founder Charles Buchanan, Paul H. Buchanan Jr. (1918–2008) pursued a career in law and served on the Indiana Court of Appeals until retiring in 1993.[17][18] Buchanan was a founding member of the Indianapolis Bar Foundation and served as president of the Indianapolis Bar Association in 1968.[17][18]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Sources place Buchanan's ownership at different times, with the Encyclopedia of Indianapolis citing both 1886 and 1887 in different articles and Historic Indianapolis citing 1884.[4][5][6]
  2. ↑ One source credits Flanner and Buchanan with the first crematorium in Indiana.[5]
  3. ↑ One source refers to Kregelo as David rather than Charles.[4]

References

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  1. ↑ "Find A Location | Flanner Buchanan". flannerbuchanan.com. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Find a Member". Indiana Funeral Directors Association (member directory). Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 "Survive and Thrive: A Tribute to CANA's Oldest Members". Cremation Association of North America. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Centers". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. February 5, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Francis William (Frank) Flanner". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. February 5, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Taylor, S. J. (June 2015). "Misc Monday: The Rapid Rise and Tragic Fall of Frank W. Flanner". Historic Indianapolis. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Indianapolis Journal 21 July 1901". Indianapolis Journal. July 21, 1901. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  8. ↑ "Indianapolis Journal 8 January 1904". Indianapolis Journal. January 8, 1904. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  9. ↑ "Flanner And Buchanan Acquires Lavenia & Summers". Indianapolis Recorder. June 3, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Our Story | Lavenia & Summers Home for Funerals". laveniasummers.com. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  11. ↑ Larimore, D. (December 10, 2021). "IHS Press Publishes a Look at the Buchanan and Flanner Families of Indianapolis". Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "F. W. Flanner Drinks Poison; Dies in Chapel". The Indianapolis News. February 17, 1912. Retrieved August 19, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 "The Indianapolis Journal". The Indianapolis Journal. November 7, 1888. Retrieved August 25, 2026 – via Library of Congress.
  14. 1 2 Campbell, S. (January 20, 2014). "What's in a Name: Flanner House". Historic Indianapolis. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Janet Tyler Flanner (Genêt)". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. February 5, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Love letters from Paris". The University of Chicago Magazine. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  17. 1 2 "Paul H. Buchanan Jr". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. June 21, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
  18. 1 2 "Former COA chief judge, IBF founder dies". The Indiana Lawyer. 2008. Retrieved August 25, 2026.
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