LINN — For nearly two decades, Mike and Pam Thomas have been custodians of longstanding funeral-home traditions serving families in Linn, Chamois, Belle and Bland.

As of Sept. 1, they entrusted Morton Chapel and Sassmann’s Chapel to another funeral director they believe shares the philosophy that guided them since they arrived in Linn in 2008.

They sold the businesses to Ryan Freeman of Freeman Mortuary in Jefferson City, bringing an ownership transition that had been contemplated for several years but was accelerated by Mike’s battle with pancreatic cancer.

“We wouldn’t be having this conversation if I wasn’t sick right now,” Mike said. “There were plans that there would be a day coming that this would happen just because of retirement. We didn’t realize it was going to be a health thing that actually did it.”

Mike was diagnosed in January with stage four pancreatic cancer and has undergone chemotherapy since March. He is also being treated through MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where recent scans have provided some encouraging news by showing shrinkage in the tumors.

SALE DISCUSSIONS HELD FOR YEARS

Mike and Pam had already been talking with Freeman for several years before Mike’s diagnosis.

Mike had known the Freeman family through previous work in Jefferson City and said the possibility of eventually turning the business over to Ryan had made sense for some time.

Freeman said initial discussions began around 2018 or 2019. He had known the Thomases for years and respected the work they had done but understood they were not ready at that point to sell.

For Freeman, the timing was not right either. He wanted to strengthen the operation in Jefferson City so the funeral home was not dependent upon him being present every day. That included expanding the staff, and in 2023, BreAnna Williams became the first team member to attain a minority ownership in the family’s funeral home.

“I am thrilled that my family remains deeply involved in the business while also providing opportunities for our team to grow and thrive,” Freeman said.

The two sides remained in contact, periodically revisiting the possibility until Mike and Pam began moving toward a sale this year.

Then Mike became ill, and while that accelerated the timeline, it did not make it automatic.

“We’ve done a lot of due diligence before this to make sure, hopefully, this transition goes very seamlessly,” Freeman said.

That preparation is especially important, he added, because changes involving longtime community institutions naturally create questions.

Freeman wants families to understand that the transaction is not intended to erase the identities Morton Chapel and Sassmann’s Chapel have built over generations.

Mike and Pam said their priorities in selecting a successor were based on how they believe the businesses would operate.

For them, funeral services in a small community have always required more than running a business.

“This isn’t really a job; it’s a life,” Mike said.

Pam agreed, describing funeral service as a calling and a ministry to families at one of the most difficult points in their lives.

That’s something Freeman understands.

CONTINUING MORTON AND SASSMANN TRADITIONS

Freeman described funeral service as a ministry built around helping families begin working through grief at a time when they may be overwhelmed and struggling to make even basic decisions.

“There are so many things that you can do to surround people with love and get them started on the right track with their grief journey,” Freeman said.

That philosophy has deep roots in his own family.

Freeman Mortuary was founded by his grandfather, Don Freeman, in Jefferson City in 1961. At the time, five funeral homes operated in the city, and Freeman said his grandfather took a significant risk in opening a facility constructed specifically as a funeral home rather than converting an existing residence.

His father, Phil Freeman, entered the business in 1974 and has now worked in funeral service for more than 50 years.

Although slowing down, he still visits the funeral home regularly and remains a mentor to his son.

Ryan Freeman took ownership in 2014.

The COVID-19 pandemic later reinforced for him the importance of building a strong team. Funeral homes were serving large numbers of families under extraordinary circumstances, and Freeman said the experience demonstrated how essential employees and the relationships they develop with families are to the operation.

SHARED HISTORY

Freeman has personal connections to the history of the operations he is acquiring.

His family has long been close to former Morton owners Joe and Sherri Caldwell. Joe Caldwell worked at Freeman Mortuary with Freeman’s father before becoming involved with Morton Chapel.

Freeman also considers Mike and Pam Thomas mentors.

That history, he said, provides an understanding of what successive owners have invested in the funeral homes and what they have meant to their communities.

“I do know the history and what Joe and Sherry put into it and what Mike and Pam have put into it,” Freeman said. “I just respect their work and want to continue it more than anything.”

MAINTAINING CONTINUITY

Freeman has assured Mike and Pam that the transition is intended to preserve much of what families already know. The Morton Chapel and Sassmann’s Chapel names and logos will remain, Freeman said he is working to retain the staffs at all locations, and existing prearrangements will be honored.

“The team they have built is the true Morton Chapel,” he said. “They know more than I do right now about community traditions and how the community wants to celebrate life because every community is a little bit different.”

Nathan Veltrop will serve as manager of Morton Chapel. Freeman noted that Veltrop lives beside the funeral home, has established relationships in Linn, and already has the community’s trust.

Kenny Dishman will continue in his primary leadership role with Sassmann’s Chapel in Belle and Bland.

Staff may occasionally work between locations as needed, but Freeman said the goal is to preserve the familiar local presence families have come to expect.

One member of the Freeman Mortuary staff likely to become more familiar throughout the area is Will Otten, a licensed funeral director with local connections. He began working with Freeman while still in high school and later graduated from Linn State Technical College, now State Tech.

Freeman also expects to spend time at the various locations himself while learning the operations and assisting with funeral services.

The broader Freeman staff, however, will largely remain in Jefferson City.

Freeman said that distinction is intentional. He does not want the acquisition to feel as though a Jefferson City operation has arrived to impose a different culture on Morton or Sassmann.

“When somebody comes into a funeral home, it makes them feel much more at ease when they see a familiar face,” Freeman said. “Most people are already anxious to go to a funeral, and then you walk in and don’t know anybody. That can make those feelings worse.”

For Mike and Pam, preserving that continuity carries particular meaning because it echoes the way they became part of the communities themselves.

MORTON’S EVOLUTION SINCE 1933

According to the history Mike gathered over the years from longtime owner Vernon Morton and others, Morton Chapel traces its beginnings to 1933, when the original funeral business operated from a small building near what is now Mid America Bank.

The original owners were Clyde and Beulah Morton.

The present funeral home was constructed in 1942 on property where Linn’s high school had previously stood. The school had been torn down, leaving behind a vacant foundation.

Members of the Vogel family, who owned neighboring property, approached Clyde Morton about building the funeral home on the site and helped make the project financially possible.

Evidence of that earlier chapter remains underneath the building. Portions of the former school foundation can still be seen in the funeral home basement.

The building itself became much more than a place of business. Members of the Morton family grew up there, and stories from that era became part of the institution’s lore. Mike said Vernon Morton shared memories of children playing throughout the building and even hiding in caskets.

One particularly unusual piece of the original operation also survived.

The early funeral home near the present bank used a counterweighted elevator to move bodies between floors. When the business moved to the present location, the elevator was dismantled piece by piece, moved, and reconstructed in the new building. It remained in use for decades before eventually being motorized.

Clyde and Beulah Morton eventually handed the business to Vernon and Mary Ruth Morton. They later transferred it to their son, Mike, and his wife, Betty. Joe and Sherri Caldwell and Jeff and Robin Caldwell purchased Morton Funeral Home in 1996.

Twelve years later, it was time for another transition.

The Caldwells sold the Linn and Chamois funeral homes to Mike and Pam Thomas, effective Jan. 2, 2008.

At the time, Mike noted that the Caldwell and Thomas families had known one another for years. With the Caldwell children pursuing other interests, he said it made sense for the business to pass to another family committed to operating the funeral homes as the Morton and Caldwell families had for more than 70 years.

Eighteen years later, Mike and Pam find themselves making much the same decision.

They are not simply selling buildings and equipment. They are choosing who will become the next steward of businesses generations of area families have relied upon.

SASSMANN CHAPEL’S FIVE-GENERATION LEGACY

The Sassmann family’s history in funeral service stretches back more than a century and across five generations.

Bruce Sassmann said the family’s roots in the business can be traced to his great-grandfather, George Sassmann, a carpenter who made cabinets, furniture, and coffins. An advertisement in a late-19th-century Gasconade County newspaper documented that early work, and Bruce believes coffin-making eventually led the family into funeral service.

The business passed to George’s son, William Henry Sassmann, who operated a funeral home in Bland. William Henry died in 1923 when his son, Chester, was only 5 years old, leaving his widow, Minnie Ritterbush Sassmann, to keep the business operating until Chester was old enough to take over. Chester later attended mortuary school in St. Louis.

The family business continued even while Chester served during World War II, with his wife, Geneva, running the operation in his absence. After the war, Chester expanded the business and built a funeral home in Belle.

Bruce and his brother, David, later joined their parents in the business, followed by David’s son, Scott, who also became licensed. That made Scott the fifth generation of the Sassmann family involved in funeral service, tracing the line from George to William Henry, Chester, David and Bruce, and then Scott.

For much of Bruce’s childhood, the Sassmann family operated both a furniture store and funeral home under the same roof in Bland, reflecting the traditional connection between furniture-making and early funeral services. The furniture business eventually faded from the family operation, while the funeral homes continued.

Over time, however, the number of family members available to continue the funeral business declined. Chester died in 1988, and David died in 2009. Scott chose to move to the city, leaving Bruce and his wife, Jan, to continue operating the business.

Bruce said he eventually decided he did not want to remain responsible for the funeral homes for the rest of his life, but selecting a successor was not a quick decision.

“It took us a few years to decide on who we wanted to sell to, and all along we had wanted Mike to be the ultimate buyer,” Bruce said. “We just had to wait until the timing was right for him.”

The relationship between the Sassmann and Thomas families had been established long before Mike and Pam moved to Linn. Mike previously operated a trade service in Jefferson City and had worked professionally with the Sassmann family for years. After Mike sold that business and purchased Morton Chapel, Bruce said the Thomases increasingly became the logical successors to the Sassmann operation.

Mike and Pam assumed responsibility for Sassmann’s Chapel in Belle and Bland on May 1, 2013, with Bruce and Jan remaining involved during the transition. At the time, the Sassmann family said its goal was to place the longtime operation with professionals who would continue the trust the family had built over generations.

Thirteen years later, Bruce said he remains pleased with that decision and is equally comfortable with the next transition.

Bruce said he also has a longstanding relationship with Ryan Freeman and the Freeman family and supports Mike and Pam’s decision to sell the operation to Freeman Mortuary.

“I’m really happy with the choice that Mike made and the buyer he chose to succeed us,” Bruce said, adding that the Sassmann family remains available should Freeman need anything as the next chapter begins. “I want to wish the Freeman family the greatest success, knowing that they will do a good job.”

BUILDING THEIR OWN CHAPTER

Mike came to Linn with decades of funeral-service experience. A Poplar Bluff native, he graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in 1983 and is a licensed funeral director and embalmer.

Pam, a Marshfield native, brought a business background to the operation and later became a licensed funeral director and pre-need agent.

In 2010, Pam’s brother, Kenny Dishman, joined the staff and obtained his funeral director and pre-need agent licenses.

When Mike and Pam assumed responsibility for Sassmann’s Chapel in 2013, Dishman moved from Linn to Bland, purchased the former home of Chester and Geneva Sassmann, and took over day-to-day management of the Belle and Bland operations, a role he continues today.

The expansion also meant building a larger staff.

Mike hired Nathan Veltrop and Stanley Strope in 2013. Grant Stockton has helped operate the crematory in Rolla and worked with the Sassmann operation, while numerous other full- and part-time employees have also become part of the organization over the years.

Their importance became especially apparent after Mike’s diagnosis.

Mike said he has essentially been unable to work since January, yet families continued to receive the service they expected.

“This staff has pulled off an incredible challenge and made it just seamless,” he said. “It hasn’t skipped a beat.”

That has allowed Mike to concentrate on treatment while reinforcing his confidence that the operation can move forward without losing the people families already know.

Freeman said he has been impressed by the way the staff rallied around Mike and Pam.

That makes his initial role less about restructuring and more about determining what the staff needs to continue succeeding.

For the first 30 to 90 days, Freeman plans to work with the staff, observe how services are handled, and determine what resources he can provide.

PROVIDING MORE SERVICES FOR FAMILIES

Freeman Mortuary has an in-house print shop and graphic-design capabilities that can be used to expand personalization options for families. Freeman said that may include larger photographs, photo collages, display boards, and upgraded printed materials designed to help tell the story of the person being remembered.

His wife, Ashley, is a graphic designer who graduated from Auburn University with a degree in graphic arts and has helped develop those services at Freeman Mortuary.

Morton Chapel and Sassmann’s Chapel already offer video tributes, which Freeman praised, and he views the additional options as another way families can personalize services rather than a replacement for what is already being done.

Beyond those additions, Freeman plans to watch, listen, and talk with employees before making other decisions.

“My goal is to have meetings, to open up lines of communication with the team, to see, ‘What can I help you with? What are problems that you’ve had that I can try to help solve?’” he said.

September also marks Freeman’s 20th year since returning full-time to his family’s business.

Freeman called the timing meaningful and said he approaches the expansion with excitement and some understandable nervousness.

His goal is straightforward: earn the same confidence previous generations of Morton and Sassmann ownership have received.

“I’m excited for this new challenge,” Freeman said. “Obviously, I’m nervous to make sure we do it right and meet everybody’s expectations and trust, but I’m excited for this new challenge, and to see where it goes.”

REMAINING PART OF THE COMMUNITY

Mike and Pam agreed that their time in the area cannot be measured only in funerals conducted or businesses acquired.

They came to the area as outsiders; they became community members.

Over the years, Mike and Pam supported church picnics, 4-H, school programs, athletics, benefits, and numerous other community causes, often quietly.

They helped support Linn’s football program when it was established, purchased livestock at area fairs, and contributed to organizations and families throughout the communities they served.

They also created the Tree of Remembrance shortly after purchasing Morton Chapel.

The program began with about 50 to 60 ornaments carrying the names of deceased loved ones. It eventually grew to hundreds of ornaments spread across multiple Christmas trees, with families invited to remember people regardless of whether Morton Chapel had handled their funeral or how long ago they had died.

At one point, more than 700 ornaments had become part of the tradition.

COVID-19 disrupted the program, and its sheer growth eventually created space issues, but the funeral home continued remembering those it served through an annual memorial video.

When Mike became ill, they discovered that relationship worked both ways.

Students at St. George School, where Mike had regularly helped open the doors on Thursday mornings, sent him cards after learning of his diagnosis. A prayer service was also held at St. George, along with many messages, cards, and words of encouragement from throughout the communities Mike and Pam have served.

Mike became emotional describing the response.

For two people who were not area natives, acceptance was never something they took for granted.

“You don’t just walk into this town,” Mike said. “You’ve got to earn it.”

They believe they did, and when they needed the community, Pam said, “They turned right around and gave it right back.”

Selling the businesses does not mean Mike and Pam are leaving Linn.

For Pam, the transition represents retirement from the daily responsibility of running the operation, although she may occasionally help if needed. Mike said his retirement is dictated more directly by his health, but he would also like to assist when he feels well enough.

Their priority now is his treatment and spending their time without the constant demands of funeral-home ownership.

But Linn remains home.

After 18 years of serving area families, supporting community organizations, and becoming woven into the relationships that define the communities they serve, Mike and Pam Thomas are not preparing to say goodbye.

They are simply handing over the keys.