Adams & Swanson Funeral Home is firmly committed to the concept of helping families to create a meaningful funeral service for their loved ones. Each service reflects the person being honored as well as the needs of the survivors.
Serving North Platte and the surrounding area, we offer a full range of services that are affordable and meaningful to the family. We serve all faiths with respect and dignity, and are available 24 hours a day.
As a part of the local communities, Adams & Swanson Funeral Home is a family owned and locally operated funeral home. Our staff has established a tradition of assisting families in planning funerals that reflect an individuals life, with dignity and meaning.
A History of Adams & Swanson Funeral Home
The building that is now Adams & Swanson Funeral Home at 421 West 4th Street was originally built around 1916 by Edward R. Goodman. It was purchased in 1923 by Mary and Keith Neville. Keith Neville was the governor of Nebraska from 1917-1919. The family made their home in the building until it was purchased in the early 1950s by Bill Adams and Kenneth Swanson. On July 7th of 1951 they began Adams & Swanson funeral home and ambulance service. They had a funeral call their very first day of operation and have helped people in the area ever since.
Wilson Theodore Bill Adams was born on March 2, 1907 at Fremont to Orlando and Lena Wilson Adams. As a young boy, he lived at Kimball and Dix before moving with his family to North Platte. His father established the Adams Funeral Home on East 5th Street. Bill was a 1927 graduate of North Platte High School. After High School he attended Worshems School of Embalming in Chicago. After graduation he worked with his brother Jack Sterling Ting Adams at the Adams Funeral Home in the building that is now the Knights of Columbus Hall. He also operated a gas station at 4th and Jeffers and worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. He married Galdys F. Case in 1943. He and his wife each had a son, W.T. Bill Adams Jr. and Lee Ragains. He was part owner of Adams & Swanson Funeral Home for 37 years until he retired in 1988. He passed away on May 2, 1990. Gladys passed away on August 5, 1990. He and his wife are buried in the North Platte Cemetery.
Kenneth Arnold Swanson was born November 7, 1913 at Wahoo to George and Rose Swanson. His father was also a funeral director. Kenneth was a 1929 graduate of Wahoo High School and attended Luther College at Wahoo. He attended and graduated from the Hohenschuh Carperter College of Embalming in St. Louis in 1935. He was associated in the funeral service for 14 years at Beatrice and three years at York. He and his family moved to North Platte in 1951.
The funeral home has gone through many remodeling changes throughout the years. In the early 1950s the front porch was added. In 1957 the chapel and casket room on the North end of the building were added. The chapel can hold 180 people comfortably and the casket room displays 23 caskets. In the early 1970s the lot behind the home was purchased and made into a parking lot and a four bay shed was built. In the early 1980s the East addition with a wheelchair ramp and covered car port was added. The funeral home facilities are both modern for the use of our patrons, but retain a sense of nostalgia when one walks through the doors. The friendly and helpful staff at Adams & Swanson is always glad to give tours of our facility, answer any questions about the funeral home, or any questions regarding funeral arrangements. Please feel free to stop and visit us at any time.