Hodgson Funeral Home was started in 1921 by Harry Hobin and William Matthew Hodgson in a small rent building on 17th Street in Rock Island, Illinois. Mr. Hobin left the partnership and Mr. Hodgson ran the business until his unexpected death in 1936, when he died on his way to respond to a death in rural Rock Island County.

Alwin Lindoerfer, who had been an employee of the funeral home for several years, helped Mrs. Hodgson run the business for a year. At that time, Mr. Lindoerfer and his future brother-in-law, Walter Heseman, purchased the business and conducted funerals at the Seventeenth Street location for three years.

In 1939, a prominent Rock Island physician, Dr. Edward DeSilva, sold his mansion on the Hill to Mr. Heseman and Mr. Lindoerfer. This building continues as the present Hodgson Funeral Home.

Mr. Lindoerfer died in 1969. Mr. Heseman continued on with the funeral home until his retirement in 1983, selling the business to his long-term employee, Larry Gripp. Mr. Gripp retired in 2001.

Structurally, the funeral home retains many of the characteristics that made it one of the largest and most beautiful homes in the city. Its grand staircase to the second floor and the original dark woodwork in the main chapel are but two of the features of this beautiful building that help retain its original charm.

Today, we are proud to be a member of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, cremation and cemetery service providers. Dignity Memorial providers offer exclusive benefits, including National Transferability of Prearranged Services, the Bereavement Travel Program, the 24-Hour Compassion Helpline® and access to an acclaimed grief management library. As North America’s largest provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services, the Dignity Memorial brand is your assurance of quality, value, caring service and exceptional customer satisfaction.