MENDOTA — Derek and Chad Horner, co-owners of Unger-Horner Funeral Home in Rochelle, recently closed on the purchase of Merritt Funeral Home in Mendota. The business will now be known as Horner-Merritt Funeral Home. 

The sale came about due to a long-standing friendship between Merritt Funeral Home Owner Bob Merritt and Don Horner, Chad and Derek’s father and the former owner of Unger-Horner Funeral Home. 

Unger-Horner Funeral Home has been in business since 1861, spanning six generations of the Unger-Horner family. Merritt Funeral Home is another one of the longest-standing family businesses in the region, in business at its 800 Monroe St. location and in the Merritt family since 1938 and over four generations. 

“Bob and I have been friends and colleagues since 1966,” Don Horner said. “It's been a great relationship for both of us. When he decided he was going to sell his funeral home, I told my kids earlier on that this would be a good funeral home for them to think about. They're two long-standing family businesses, which is unique. It's going to be part of our family business and our heritage. It's been wonderful to see this happen.”

Derek Horner will lead the funeral home in Mendota along with Office Manager Connie Quick and Funeral Assistant Tom Corrigan. Chad Horner will lead operations at Unger-Horner Funeral Home in Rochelle, with Funeral Director Michael Torman and Funeral Assistant Evan Horner assisting at both locations. 

After serving families in the Rochelle area across decades, the Horners are looking forward to getting to know the Mendota-area community. 

“I'm excited,” Derek Horner said. “I'm realizing fast how gratifying it's going to be to make connections down here. Now I just feel like this is going to be an extension of home. I'm starting to meet people in town already. In the short time I've been here, it's been very similar. The same small-town vibe and great people.” 

Merritt said he believes the change is going to be positive, and he’s already spoken with families that have been “really pleased” with the Horners since they began work in Mendota. When he started to consider selling, Chad and Derek Horner were the first people that came to mind. 

“I saw them as being the next owners of this funeral home,” Merritt said. “I’ve always had them in mind for it. Passing this off to a family like the Horners is the only way it could have gone for me to feel good about selling. It means the world to me that they'll carry on. It makes it easier to walk away from this business I've known all my life. I feel very confident in what Derek and Chad will do with it.”

Merritt leaves the business with a legacy of working with Mendota-area families for 58 years.

“It's been very rewarding for me to do this work since 1966,” Merritt said. “I've had so many good relationships with the families. I have some that I'll never forget about.”

The new owners plan to make upgrades to the historic 1938 building including more technology for amenities like video tributes, and renovations to the chapel. Chad Horner said Merritt-Horner Funeral Home will mirror the Rochelle operation when it comes to values. 

“We find value in serving families,” Chad Horner said. “To have another family funeral home that allows us to have the same sort of service that we would like to provide the community was perfect for us. Families have always come first for us. That won't change here. This reinforces all of the work we put in serving families. It's a calling, not a job. To be able to expand from Rochelle after all these years and serve another community, it's a rewarding situation for us to know that what we do is valued.”

In an email to Merritt, Don Horner once described his sons as “capable and caring.” Merritt called back on those words as he handed the business off to Chad and Derek, who want the Mendota-area community to know what to expect in the coming years. 

“One thing about being family-owned and operated is we care about the families,” Chad Horner said. “That comes before the business of it. Families have always come first. People in Rochelle and Mendota that come to us will know that their funeral home cares about them first.”