Charles followed his father in the undertaking business in 1893 and William J. operated the furniture business. In 1914 the undertaking business was moved from its Central Avenue location to a new three-story building at the corner of First Avenue South and Eleventh Street. First floor and basement were devoted to the mortuary and apartments were on the second and third floors. The furniture store continued in business until 1929.
In 1952 the Laufersweiler Funeral home erected its present large building at Third Avenue South and Twelfth Street. Welch Laufersweiler joined his father, Charles, in the funeral home in 1930. Since 1941 he has been owner and operator of the business.
The Burnquist home
704 Crest Avenue
THE BURNQUIST HOME
This is another of the attractive Snell Place homes erected in the 1920s. Located at 704 Crest Avenue, it was owned and occupied by the B. B. Burnquist family for many years.
Built in 1924 by Emmett Mulholland, a Fort Dodge attorney, the house has successively been occupied by attorneys, doctors and a packing plant executive. Mulholland sold the house to the Burnquists in 1927 when he and Mrs. Mulholland moved to Long Beach, Calif. Presently it is owned by John J. Murray, Fort Dodge attorney, and his wife, Joan. The Murrays acquired the house in 1961 and now reside there with their three sons and daughter—John, Mike, Steve and Sheila.
The first floor of the house has an entrance hall, living room with fireplace, dining room, kitchen, den with half bath and sunporch. The second floor has four bedrooms, two baths and sunporch. The basement was remodeled into a recreation room by the Murrays. They also remodeled the kitchen, installing a Franklin stove and making it into a “country kitchen.”
Mr. and Mrs. Murray added a double garage and a large cement patio with historic wrought iron railing. The railing came from balconies of the Oleson Building at Central Avenue and Eighth Street when it was razed to make way for the City Green parking lot.
B. B. Burnquist, who practiced law in Fort Dodge for 60 years, was a native of Dayton. The son of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Burnquist, he was born in 1884, attended schools in Dayton and graduated from Fort Dodge High School. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1907 with a law degree and began practice in Fort Dodge. Burnquist was associated with various law firms here starting with the Healy brothers. Later he was in the firms of Healy, Burnquist & Thomas, Price & Burnquist, Helsell, Burnquist, Bradshaw & Dolliver and Helsell & Burnquist.