History

The Allison and Rose Funeral Home is proud of its Northern Kentucky Heritage. which can be traced back to the early 1800’s. Abraham P. Rose was born in 1811 and emigrated from Baltimore in 1833. He set himself up in business as a cabinet maker, using skills learned from his father.  In those days, a cabinet maker also made caskets, and usually served families by arranging for the funeral ceremony and burial.  His shop was located on Market Place, presently between Third and Fourth Streets and east of Greenup, near the Covington-Kenton County Hall of Justice.  There are examples of his work still in existence.

Abraham P. Rose had two sons who joined his cabinetry/funeral business by 1866, Theodore and A. P., Jr.  Following the death of Abraham Rose in 1877, the two sons continued the family business for some 23 years.  In 1888 John Harbick came into the organization which by then was a funeral home.  In 1900, S.C. DeGarmo joined the firm as a partner, but passed away in 1904.  In 1910, Theodore Rose’s daughter Lula married T.M. Swindler, who was brought into the funeral firm. In 1914, Swindler established his own business on Southern Avenue in Latonia.  Theodore’s son Porter joined the firm at that time.

In 1925, a new alliance was formed with John Allison, giving the firm it’s present name of Allison and Rose Funeral Home. For a short time, the two partners operated at separate locations, but soon the Seventh and Scott location of the Rose Funeral Home became the sole site.  Unfortuately, Porter died in 1932, follwed a few months later by John Allison, thus ending a short alliance between the two families. Porter’s father Theodore brought two employees, Frank Richards and V.S. Tumey into the business as partners.  Allison and Rose was incorporated on September 3, 1957.  During this period, Allison and Rose became the premier funeral home in Northern Kentucky, serving many thousands of families.

Theodore lived to age 84, passing in May of 1940, leaving Miss Reba Rose as the sole founding family member. Reba fell ill and died on February 2, 1968. Frank Richards assumed the presidency of the corporation. Employees over the years include Armor C. Moreland, hired 1949, W. Gyles Bruin, 1957, Joseph Blake Pentecost, 1963, Attorney John H. Klette, Ronald R. Cook, Theodore R. Huley and Ralph E. and James T. Cummins.

In 1986 the firm opened the facility on Taylor Mill Road in Taylor Mill, Kentucky.

This condensed history of Allison & Rose is taken from the privately published book
researched by Gilbert W. Kingsbury of the University of Kentucky, published July 27, 1977