ASHLAND — Kevin Harter said he never really believed the results of high school career surveys.
An Ohio native and 2009 graduate of The Ohio State University — where he’s an alumnus of The Ohio State University Marching Band — Harter said his survey always came back matching him with a local funeral home.
“I thought there is no way I would ever do that,” he said. “About my sophomore year of college, I started considering it.”
A conversation with a high school classmate, who became a funeral director, was the last piece to the puzzle. Harter decided as junior that he wanted to forge a career in the funeral industry.
After Ohio State, he continued his education at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, graduating in 2011. This is also where he met his wife, Christy.
The couple is now raising their two children in Ashland, where they reside at what has long been known as Wappner Funeral Directors.
As the new director of the funeral home, Harter is leading the charge to send the familiar Claremont Avenue landmark into a new chapter.
The Wappner Funeral Directors sign will soon be replaced by Harter Family Funeral Home, introducing a new name while continuing the tradition of compassionate care that Ashland families have come to trust, he said.
The funeral home will remain a full-service facility providing personalized and respectful care to the Ashland community.
“I’ve been here roughly a year now, in Ashland, kind of working and trying to get integrated into the community,” Harter said.
Updates to funeral home
The funeral home is currently undergoing changes designed to brighten the aesthetic and refresh the space.
These updates are expected to be completed by mid-to-late August.
Renovations include all new carpeting and refreshments to landscaping and hardscaping around the funeral home’s exterior.
Harter said the goal of the changes is to give the building a fresh look, but to limit modernizing the charm of the historic building.
“It’s an older building,” he said. “We don’t want to make it look too modern on the inside.”
Harter said those he’s interacted with in Ashland have been friendly and community-driven.
“We live at the funeral home, so we just walk down Main Street and check out the shops and go to local restaurants,” he said. “Personally for me, I’m going to be getting out and getting more involved in the local groups and things like that.”
Harter Family Funeral Home is planning an open house event in the coming weeks to celebrate the transition and welcome the community.