Cooperating co-operatives

LONE WOLF — Have you ever been driving along and had an odd combination business catch your attention?

For example, a sign I saw years ago read "Herbs – Vitamins” and below that "Lawnmower Parts.”

Or maybe you noticed an interesting food combination such as pizza and omelets. I haven't seen that one, but I wouldn't be surprised if you called to tell me you have.

Well, I've got another one for you. It's not a sign, but it should catch your attention. One day I was going down the road with a friend and he told me that Kenny Hahn not only is general manager of the Planters Co-operative at Lone Wolf, he's also general manager of People's Co-operative Funeral Home in the same town.

This was a mental picture moment: Camera one, a grain elevator; camera two, a casket.

For me, this beats the herbs and lawnmower parts, so I asked Hahn to explain how this came to be.

Let me first say, that farmer's co-op and the funeral home co-op are separate corporations. But because of the reason for starting the latter, the board of directors for Planters is also the board for People's and the manager of Planter's is required to serve as general manager for both.

Now let's look at the history behind this unusual combination.

On the night of Feb. 18, 1936, Jess L. Prewett, the owner of the Lone Wolf funeral home, knocked on the farmhouse door of W.H. and Emma Kosanke. He hadn't just come to visit. He had an idea, outside-the-box idea well before that term's heyday.

Prewett said the funeral home was suffering economically, and he wanted to sell to the Planters Co-op Association and have the co-op hire him to run it so the funeral home would survive.

About two years earlier, the Kosanke's 22-month-old daughter had been killed in an explosion. History provided by People's Co-operative Funeral Home says that the "tragedy broke their hearts, but opened their eyes to the costs in the funeral industry.”

So Prewett pitched the idea, Emma encouraged her husband to make the funeral home a true co-operative. The original members made large financial contributions, an agreement was reached, papers were signed and People's became Oklahoma's only co-operative funeral home.

The financial support by Planter's of People's 71 years ago is still the reason for sharing board members and a general manager. And that gets us back to Hahn.

"I came here in 1974 as assistant manager,” Hahn said, "Malcolm Magar hired me as assistant manager and as assistant manager. I did not have any responsibilities over here at the funeral home. However, at times when they were shorthanded I would work services and stuff like that so I became familiar with the funeral home in that way.”

Then in 1982, the Lone Wolf native became General Manager of Planters Co-op and General Manager of People's Co-operative Funeral Home.

While he's still actively involved with matters such as wheat and cotton at Planter's, he leaves the daily operation of the funeral home to Richard Varner, manager and funeral director of People's Co-operative Funeral Home since 2005.

People's will handle about 120 services a year, Hahn said. Lone Wolf's population is about 500 people, but the funeral home's territory includes roughly a 30-mile radius of the town.

So how does the membership work? Membership comes from buying stock for $10 and paying the current year's dues of $10. A member then has an option of paying $10 annual dues or paying a perpetual membership of $50. These funds are a maintenance fee used in the operation of the business.

A membership covers the parents and minor children. If someone dies in that family, then they receive the funeral at about cost. Varner said the average is roughly about $4,000.

Hahn said usually they'll make between $0 and $20,000 a year profit after all their expenses.

"That's not very much margin so our customers are getting those services relatively at cost, which was the mission of the funeral home,” he said. "It was always meant just to provide a service to the community.”