Finding aid for the Grdina Funeral Home and Grdina-Cosic Funeral Home Records

History of Grdina Funeral Home and Grdina-Cosic Funeral Home

Grdina Funeral Home was established in 1909 in Cleveland, Ohio, by Anton Grdina (1874-1957). A Slovenian immigrant, Anton Grdina first arrived in Cleveland in 1897 at the age of twenty-three. After working a multitude of odd jobs, he purchased his first hardware store, Grdina Anton Hardware, in 1903. Grdina soon branched out to the furniture and funeral businesses. His enterprising career would eventually encompass ventures including hardware, undertaker and funeral director duties, hiring of invalid carriages and automobiles, banking, and the sale of carpets, bridal fashions, stoves, and home furnishings. In 1909, Anton Grdina's initial business was known as Grdina and Knaus Hardware, Furniture and Undertakers. Anton Grdina and Sons, Home Furnishings and Funeral Directors was incorporated in 1928.

Grdina's businesses were located mainly on St. Clair Street, and also Norwood Road and East 62nd Street in Cleveland. Grdina had numerous partners throughout his career as an undertaker, such as Grdina and Pucel in 1904 and Grdina and Knaus in 1909. Anton Grdina's sons, Frank and Anthony, were also involved in the family business. Frank Grdina acted as secretary and Anthony Grdina as Vice President with the Grdina Funeral Home. Anton Grdina served as president of all his businesses until his death in 1957.

Grdina's businesses were a major presence in Cleveland's Slovenian community. The majority of customers served by Grdina Funeral Home were South Slavic immigrants. Grdina and his businesses worked to rebuild the neighborhood of St. Clair after it was ravaged by the East Ohio Gas Company explosion in 1944. Anton Grdina was active in the Slovenian community, holding memberships in many fraternal and social organizations, serving in leadership positions for the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation and the Yugoslav Garden, and founding two banking institutions.

In December of 1988 after merging to create Grdina-Cosic Funeral Home, Grdina's funeral business expanded to include multiple sites at Willoughby Hills and the Lake Shore and St. Clair neighborhoods of Cleveland.

Click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Anton Grdina

Scope and Content

The Grdina Funeral Home and Grdina-Cosic Funeral Home Records, 1912-1991 and undated, consist of funeral ledgers, mortuary records, receipts, and tax documents.

This collection is of value to researchers studying genealogy in Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio with relevance to the St. Clair neighborhood and the South Slavic community, particularly Slovenia and Croatia. These records take a closer look into the particular Slavic roots that developed in the east side of Cleveland. St. Clair-Superior is one the oldest and most culturally diverse neighborhoods in Cleveland and includes a sizable Slovenian population. The ledgers within the funeral records are good indicators of ethnic background, occupations, and economic status of the working and middle class families over several decades. Those interested in this research will also be able to utilize the funeral records as a starting point for further inquiry into all the business ventures of Anton Grdina, including Grdina Anton Hardware; Undertakers, Funeral Directors, Invalid Carriages, Autos for Hire; Furniture, Carpets, Stoves and Home Furnishings; Anton Grdina and Sons; Grdina Funeral Home; and Grdina-Cosic Funeral Home.

The data in the unbound funeral ledgers and the mortuary records in folders that genealogists will find useful includes birth and death dates, causes of death, address of the deceased, who the account was billed to, veteran status, physician's name, death notice information, and place of burial, among others. The collection is also of value to those wanting to know about the types of funeral services available and changes in the mortuary business in Cleveland, Ohio, and the United States during the twentieth century. Researchers interested in medical topics may also find the collection engaging due to information regarding causes of death and other vital statistics.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 3531 E. F. Boyd and Son Funeral Home Records; MS 4908 E.F. Boyd and Son Funeral Home Records Series II; MS 4805 McGorray Brothers Funeral Home Records; MS 5128 McGorray Brothers Funeral Home Records, Series II; MS 4809 Pease Funeral Home Records; MS 4339 Deutsch Funeral Home Records; MS 5073 Chambers Funeral Home Records; MS 5059 Saxon Funeral Home Records; and MS 5091 Edward H. Lindhorst and Sons Funeral Home Records.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5188 Grdina Funeral Home and Grdina-Cosic Funeral Home Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Calhoun Funeral Home and Crematory Service in 2013.

Processing Information

Processed by Kari Mariner and Chloe Snider in 2014.

Detailed Description of The Collection