Our dedicated staff has many years of faithful service in the funeral buisness.
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Mark Johnson
Owner/Funeral Director Mark has been a native of Morton since 1972. He graduated in 1975 from Morton High School and from the Mid-America College of Funeral Service in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1980. He has been a licensed funeral director since 1982. Mark is president of Knapp-Johnson Funeral Homes, Inc. which began operation in 1987. Mark is a past board president of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association District #8, Morton Chamber of Commerce, Morton Rotary Club and We Care, Inc. He served as vice-president of the founding board of the Morton Community Foundation and currently serves as a commissioner on the Morton Park District Board. He was the 2005 recipient of the Morton Chamber Distinguished Service Award. He resides in Morton with his wife, Kim, and their three children, Ryan, Sara and Anna. They are members of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Morton. |
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Donald L. Jones Funeral Director A native of Metamora, Don is a 1980 graduate of Metamora Township High School. He attended Eastern Illinois University from 1980 - 1982 and in 1984 graduated from Simmons College of Mortuary Science in Syracuse, New York. Licensed in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and California, he began his funeral service career in Pekin, Illinois. He later managed funeral homes in central Wisconsin and western Minnesota before returning to central Illinois in 1995. A past president of Illinois Funeral Directors Association District #8, his community involvement includes Morton Chamber of Commerce, Morton Rotary Club and St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run. Don attends Morton Apostolic Christian Church. He resides in Morton and has two children, Emilie and Collin. |
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Donald L. Chapman Funeral Director Don has been a funeral director in Morton for 30 years with Ludwig Mortuary and Knapp - Johnson Funeral Home. He graduated from Worsham College of Mortuary Science in 1973. Don is past president of the Morton Lions Club and a member of the Morton Masonic Lodge and Illinois Funeral Directors Association District #8. He is a member of the Morton United Methodist Church where he sings in the choir and enjoys teaching Sunday school. He resides in Morton with his wife, Jane where they love spending time with their fourteen grandchildren and enjoy traveling. |
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Aimee Bolt Administrative Assistant Aimee has been with the funeral home since December of 2003. She resides with her husband, Wayne, in East Peoria, along with their three cats, and has three grown stepsons and one step grandson. Growing up in the state of Virginia, she graduated from Virginia Western College with degrees in Fine Arts and Humanities. She returned to Illinois in 1989. She and her husband enjoy collecting West Virginia Crackle Glass and are members of the Blenko Collectors Society of Milton, West Virginia. |
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Gayle Hough Living in Morton since 1972, she is a 1980 graduate of Morton High School. She and her husband Steve continue to live in Morton where they have raised three daughters, Megan, Marissa and Molly. Gayle enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with her family. |
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Gene Johnson Funeral Assistant After attending Indiana University and graduating from Ball State University, Gene started his business career in Ft. Wayne, Indiana with International Harvester/Navistar Financial Corporation, retiring in 1988 from the Dallas, Texas office as District Manager after 40 years of service. Gene joined the funeral home staff in 1989 performing various duties on a part time basis. He and his wife, Mary Jo reside in Morton and are actively engaged in following the scholastic and athletic achievements of their 11 grandchildren. |
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Ray (Sonny) Frank
Funeral Assistant Sonny was born in Morton and graduated from Morton High School in 1952. In that same year he became an apprentice brick layer. He worked for Otto Baum and Sons as a bricklayer and foreman for 47 years, retiring in 1997. In 2001, Sonny joined Knapp - Johnson Funeral Home working part time assisting on funerals and performing other various activities. He and his wife, Shirley reside in Morton and have four sons, one daughter, 20 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. |
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David Betteridge Funeral Assistant After retiring in 1996, David has served as a part time employee of Knapp - Johnson Funeral Home since 2002. David and his wife, Mary Anne live in Morton and have been active in their church and is a past member of Morton Rotary and Morton Team Easter Seals. He also served as President of Fox Creek Homeowners Association. David is currently an election judge for Tazewell County and serves as representative for the village of Morton on the Tri County Regional Transit Committee. In addition, David is a member of the Village of Morton Zoning Board of Appeals. David served his country with the U.S. Army from September 1951 through October 1970, both on active duty and in active reserve capacity. |
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David E. Neuhauser Funeral Assistant A native of Eureka, Illinois, Dave graduated from Eureka High School in 1961. He continued his education for one year at Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas. Following his schooling, Dave served his apprenticeship in funeral service at Flanner and Buchanan Mortuaries in Indianapolis, Indiana and Carlisle Funeral Home in Michigan City, Indiana. He later returned to Eureka where he farmed with his father. In 1966, Dave began his career with Libby’s. He continued his work there for 37 years until retiring as Plant Manager in 2003. After retiring from Libby’s, Dave reentered funeral service when he joined the team at Knapp - Johnson Funeral Home as a part time assistant. Dave is married to the former Linda Burton and they reside in Morton. They have two sons, Tim and Kelly and two grandchildren, Abigail and Molly. |
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Gene Felker
Funeral Assistant Gene was born in Groveland, Illinois and attended school in Groveland and East Peoria. He worked at Caterpillar for 37 years, retiring in 1983. Following his retirement, Gene began working part time for Ludwig Mortuary. He is an Army veteran of the Korean War and also a member of DAV. Gene and his wife, Delores live in Morton. They have one son, Kim and one daughter, Kathie. |
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Dean Hild Funeral Assistant Dean was born in Tremont and graduated from Tremont High School. He farmed in the Tremont area for eight years before moving to his present farm at 1570 East Muller Road, East Peoria. He is still active in farming and is an auctioneer for Roth Auction. Dean married Carol Schierer and has two daughters; Gail Hild and Angie (Rodney) Robenstein. He has three grandsons. He is a member of Blessed Sacrament Church in Morton. His hobbies include doing auctions for charitable organizations and spending time with his grandsons. |
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Kim Johnson
Owner/Accounts Payable Kim grew up in Morton and married her husband, Mark, in 1981. She previously worked full-time for the Morton Township as secretary and later as Morton’s first female tax assessor until 1994. Besides being the bookkeeper for the funeral homes she is a full-time mother to their three children, Ryan, Sara and Anna. |
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Homer Ludwig
Retired Owner/Funeral Director Homer was born and raised in Merrimac, Illinois. He graduated from Dupo High School in Dupo, Illinois in 1933. After graduation he attended St. Louis Medical School for two years and in 1936 graduated from Hohuschu and Carpenter Mortuary School in St. Louis. Following his mortuary training he served a year apprenticeship in St. Louis before returning to Columbia, Illinois. In 1940 Homer joined the Noel Funeral Home and worked there for 6 months prior to being drafted into the Air Force. After returning home from the service in 1947, he came to Morton where he worked for the Noel Funeral Home. Later that year Homer purchased the funeral home and continued to operate the business until 1995. Homer married the former Mary Ellen Turner of Pekin, Illinois on March 17, 1947. Together they raised four children. Mary Ellen died in 1998 following a battle with emphysema. He continues to reside in Morton and occasionally lends a hand on funeral services. |