Our current location, 35 W. 2nd Street was commissioned in 1867 by Crockett McGovney as a wedding gift for his daughter, Caroline McGovney Henderson. Caroline married William Henderson on November 10, 1868, in the parlor of the home, where she continued to live until her passing in 1935. Together, they raised seven children there. Their daughter, Mary Goldie Henderson, married Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Wilson on October 7, 1908. Frank founded the B.F. Wilson Company in 1897, originally operating from 37 West Second Street in Manchester. After attending the Cincinnati College of Embalming, Frank became a licensed funeral director and embalmer in Ohio and Kentucky in 1904. In the early years, funeral services were commonly held in family homes. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Frank and Goldie moved into the family home at 35 West Second Street to care for Caroline. As funeral customs evolved and services began moving from private homes into dedicated funeral parlors, Frank relocated the business into the residence and renamed it Wilson Home for Funerals. Their youngest son, Kyle Henderson Wilson, attended the Cincinnati College of Embalming in 1936 and became licensed in 1937. After serving in World War II, he returned home to help continue the family business alongside his father. In 1959, Kyle and his wife, Marjorie, moved into the family home to care for Goldie and carry on the Wilson family tradition. As the business continued to grow, the current chapel and additional facilities were added to better serve the community. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, David Kyle Wilson attended the Cincinnati School of Mortuary Science in 1966 and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer in 1968. When Kyle retired in 1979, David and his wife, Jane, moved into the family home and continued operating the business for more than four decades. In 1986, Jane also became a licensed funeral director, and together they faithfully served generations of families in Manchester and the surrounding communities. In April 2020, the funeral home was purchased by the local family-owned Thompson-Meeker Funeral Home Group, and the name was simply changed to Wilson Funeral Home, honoring the long-standing history and tradition of the business. Today, Ryan Meeker resides in the historic home and continues operating the funeral home at 35 W. 2nd Street. Ryan, a 2010 graduate of Eastern High School, originally attended Ohio University to study mathematics education. However, following the active-duty death of local serviceman Seth Blevins in Afghanistan in 2011, Ryan felt called to pursue a career in funeral service and help families through some of life’s most difficult moments. He completed his associate degree at Southern State Community College before transferring to Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, where he earned his Bachelor of Mortuary Science degree in 2013. After graduation, Ryan moved to Hocking County to complete his apprenticeship and obtain his funeral director and embalmer licenses. Following licensure, Ryan relocated to Bethel in Clermont County and joined the E.C. Nurre Funeral Home Group, where he spent several years honing his skills in funeral service, embalming, and family care. In 2020, he returned closer to home to take over operations of Wilson Funeral Home in Manchester, where he continues the long-standing tradition of meaningful, compassionate funeral care while also creating new and personal ways to help families celebrate the lives of their loved ones.