Schramka Funeral Home Listed on the State Register of Historic Places | Wisconsin Historical Society

News Release

Schramka Funeral Home Listed on the State Register of Historic Places

For Immediate Release (December 12, 2022)

Schramka Funeral Home Listed on the State Register of Historic Places | Wisconsin Historical Society
EnlargeSchramka Funeral Home

Milwaukee, WI. - The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Schramka Funeral Home in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, on the State Register of Historic Places. State Historic Preservation Officer Daina Penkiunas presents a certificate to Keith Stachowiak who owns the former funeral home with his wife Elisa.

The Schramka Funeral Home at 608-612 East Burleigh Street in Milwaukee is significant as a purpose-built neighborhood funeral home with a family residence on the upper floor, a building type that developed in the early twentieth century. The funeral home retains extremely high integrity with all the requisite spaces for funerary service still intact. Minimal changes have been made since its construction in 1929, with just three owners over its lifespan. 

Architect Roland Kurtz’s design includes a combination of stylistic elements, mostly Tudor Revival with elements of the Italian Renaissance style, both of which were popular at the time the funeral home was built. The Schramka Funeral Home is in a residential neighborhood and, while larger in size than its direct neighbors, it does not overtake its surroundings. The Schramka Funeral Home primarily served the surrounding Polish Catholic community, many of whom were first- and second-generation immigrants. 

The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.

Additional information for the Schramka Funeral Home is available at

https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI243727

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.

 

About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.