Note: If
the museum is not open, call Tom Olmstead at 501-250-3890, and
he will personally come give you a tour. He came over not
five minutes after we called him.
Tom
says Bill Clinton slept in this chair a number of times while he
was campaigning for Governor.
Tom
Olmstead
Descendants continue tradition of excellence.
By age 4, Ralph's son Tom began working at his father's side.
His first job was to help his dad stay awake for early morning
calls after working long hours all day. Here's how it worked.
Julia, Tom's mother, would get him up in the wee hours of the
morning and give him coffee to keep him awake. He would dress in
suit and tie - just like his father - and would talk to his dad
to keep him awake while he drove to serve his customers in the
country.
Tom continued to work by his father's side until Ralph died in
1971. Tom's younger brother Wayne, also grew up in a funeral
director's home. He became a minister and is presently the
Episcopal Priest for St. Edmund's Episcopal Church of Elm Grove,
Wisconsin.
In 1971, Tom became sole owner of the business and became and
still is President and Chief Executive Officer of Olmstead
Funeral Home, Incorporated.
JoAnn (Ax) became Tom's wife on August 27, 1950. She immediately
joined Tom at his business. History repeated itself - they were
partners in life and partners in business. JoAnn is also a
licensed funeral director.
During Tom's tenure as owner he has several notable
accomplishments.
Firstly, he became a proud father of three sons - Dwight, Russ
and Warren.
In the 1970's he established the Funeral Pre-need Trust Program
with Pre-arrangements and a selection of services including
vaults and caskets as well as a full monument memorial business.
Tom founded Olmstead's Woodland Memorial Park in 1980 in the
western part of Cleburne County near Edgemont. A funeral
visitation facility and chapel were added to the park in 1984.
In the
back of the museum, Tom has a a couple miniature train exhibits.
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