This Victorian-style building was built in 1897 as a $13,000 private home. At the time the price was six times the cost of nearby homes. The original owner was a man from Berlin named Jacob Kaufman, a successful businessman. Kaufman made his money in lumber and later footwear with the Kaufman Rubber Company.
The home was constructed with stone and hand crafted wood work. The second floor still has a built in desk where Kaufman could keep watch on his rubber factory down the hill. A billiards room on the main floor still has a service bell where drinks could be ordered for guests.
The home was turned into a funeral home on Christmas Day 1949 and operated until December 31, 2015. It was then put up for sale. The property is listed as a heritage property so much of it’s 19th century character will be saved.
The original construction of the house has posed a challenge for heating and cooling, there’s limited disability access and the electrical system is outdated. The attic has been cleaned out but it used to contain files on funerals dating back to the 1940’s.
The parent company that owns the funeral home chose to close operations and transfer the employees to their Westmount location which recently underwent a 9,000 square foot expansion.
There’s still electricity and the surrounding area is undergoing construction. The road in front of the building is torn up and not accessible. Several workers can be found working in the immediate area.
Video
My Grandfather was Orton Bechtel. Ratz-Bechtel was our family business up until it was sold in 1969. It’s very interesting to see these pictures and videos of this place I remember so well from my childhood.
Here’s some of the history that you might find interesting. Orton Bechtel had a funeral home at Queen and Joseph streets Kitchener in the 1930s and 40s. He and his family lived quietly upstairs and the funeral business ran downstairs. My mother has many tales of she and her sisters struggling to play quietly upstairs while funerals and visitations happened right below. She remembers hiding in a casket in the showroom one day and popping out to surprise everyone while my grandfather was showing a casket to visitors… Surprise!
Mr Kaufman came to my grandfather and his partner Mr Ratz in the 1940s and offered them the former Kaufman house on King street. Mr Kaufman said he felt his old house would be a fine place for my grandfather’s funeral business. As the story goes, my grandfather said he was grateful, but the business could not afford to buy such a luxurious building. Mr Kaufman said that was fine, he would just swap buildings (an amazing gesture, almost unthinkable now, but the sort of thing that successful local business leaders like Mr Kaufman did back then). Mr Kaufman took the Queen Street building, and a man who worked for Ratz-Bechtel ran a smaller funeral business out of the former Ratz-Bechtel location for a number of years afterward.
My grandfather added a number of innovations to the business on King street. He built a chapel so funerals could be held on-site rather than at a church (as was the tradition at the time). Later, he built The Ratz-Bechtel Family Centre at the back of the property, so families had a convenient place to gather after a funeral rather than renting a hall off-site. He even had a Laura Sharpe Flowers store on-site so funeral planning could all happen in one stop.
Ratz-Bechtel was family operated in the King Street location until it was sold to Jim Hahn in 1969 and Orton Bechtel’s portrait hung in the front hall for many years afterward.
Ratz-Bechtel went through a number of owners after the family, and was finally sold to a large funeral services company who eventually closed the site and moved the Ratz-Bechtel name to Westmount and Ottawa street where it is today as part of Westmount Funeral Home.
The King street site has seen a flurry of developement recently. The chapel and family centre have been demolished to make way for 3 large residential towers. The Kaufman house still stands as a local historic building. Rumour has it that a restaurant will eventually open in the building.
These pictures bring back so many memories! I grew up in Kitchener, and attended many funerals at this funeral home. I am glad they are going to save it.