About Us

The Kelchner name has been synonymous with exceptional funeral service ever since John F. Kelchner founded the funeral home at 222 West Front Street in Berwick in 1908. Following the First World War, John’s son, Willard, assumed the mantle and began his tenure leading the establishment. At this time, most funerals were conducted in the home of the deceased or from their church. Willard, being the visionary that he was, designed and oversaw the construction of a “home” built solely for the purpose of conducting funerals and providing a place of solace for families of all faiths to pay honor and tribute to their loved ones. His vision came to fruition when Willard, his wife, Kathryn, and their four young sons moved into the living quarters of his funeral home on Thanksgiving Eve in 1929. 

This home remains, to this day, the only purpose-built funeral home in the greater Berwick area. Following World War II, Willard’s son John B., known as Jack, who had served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, used his GI Bill to attend Eckel’s College of Mortuary Science in Philadelphia. John B. Kelchner operated the Kelchner Funeral home until 1985, when W. Bruce McMichael, Jr., having served his residency at the establishment, purchased the funeral home and became the first individual outside of the Kelchner family to operate it. Today, the Kelchner, McMichael & Readler Funeral Home, Inc. is owned and operated by Jacob C. Readler.