Member Spotlight Member Spotlight Spotlight on Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home – Yankton, South Dakota Kevin Opsahl is the owner of Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory in Yankton, South Dakota. He shared his experiences with running a successful funeral home that has been around for more than a century. How was your funeral home founded, and how does it operate today? Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory officially opened in 1903, but we have records going back to the 1890s. We started as a funeral home and continue to operate as such, but we have also been an ambulance service which served the Yankton and surrounding area for a number of years in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. We have expanded to include locations in Tabor, S.D., Tyndall, S.D. and Menno, S.D. Our crematory was added in 2000 and continues to be the sole crematory facility in Yankton. Why do you believe funeral service is important? I not only care for the deceased, but more importantly the care I give for those who survive. The building blocks of grief are laid early and that means that I have a special place in that time element. To be able to walk This welcome plaque greets all potential client families as they walk into OGR member firm Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home & Crematory in Yankton, S.D. (OGR Photo / Nancy Weil) “Funeral service for me has turned out to be more than a career. It has been a way for me to touch families' lives in a way that my schooling never taught me. It is hard for me to put into words the bond I have developed with families over the years.” a family through their early grief is my most important calling. Also, probably the most rewarding. 12 www.ogr.org | Summer 2021 What is the most rewarding part of working in funeral service? Education! The day-to-day education of the people who I serve. The options before them and helping them put together a service What makes your funeral home unique? We have design that recognizes their loved one's life and helps lay that foundation of grief. at-need funeral directors and staff, graphic pre-arrangement personnel funeral home cremation. staff, and post-funeral care by an on-staff counselor. We are also the only in our area that provides in-house
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