About Us
Our History
The caring and experienced professionals at Kelchner, McMichael & Readler Funeral Home, Inc. are here to support you through this difficult time. We offer a range of personalized services to suit your family’s wishes and requirements. You can count on us to help you plan a personal, lasting tribute to your loved one. And we’ll carefully guide you through the many decisions that must be made during this challenging time.
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.
Jacob C. "Jake" Readler is a Berwick Area High School graduate. He studied Funeral Service Education at Northampton Community College where he was the recipient of the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association award for academic excellence. Jake served his internship under Craig Baker at the Kelchner-McMichael-Baker Funeral Home and in December of 2019 became the owner and supervisor of the Kelchner, McMichael & Readler Funeral Home, Inc. He lives with his wife, Rebecca, and their children, Gabriel and Josephine, in Nescopeck Township. He is a member of the Nescopeck Township Volunteer Fire Co., serves on the Berwick Area YMCA Board of Directors, and is a Past Master of Knapp Lodge #462 F & AM in Berwick. Jake's passion for funeral service was ignited following the death of his grandmother in 2013. It was during this time that it became apparent to him exactly how much an empathetic and professional funeral director could impact the grieving process. It is with this memory held dear that he strives to serve with those qualities and provide dignified and personal service to all.
