In 2008, W. Eric Lusain founded the Main Street Casket Store in Cincinnati, OH and sold caskets and burial vaults to the public at wholesale prices. Our customers appreciated our quality and also asked us to offer funeral services.

So, in 2012, he hired Robert Grunn and created Grunn Funeral Home. In the state of Ohio, all funeral homes must be named after a licensed funeral director. In the first year, we were blessed to serve over 450 families.

In 2014, we expanded to Dayton, OH and opened Grunn Funeral Home-Dayton. We were so busy, we asked Bowman and Young Funeral Home to help us meet the needs of our families. This relationship became so important, we created Lusain Memorial - a funeral services company that purchased Bowman and Young and Funeral Home. Since our acquisition of Bowman and Young FH, it's volume tripled. The Lusain Memorial Network proudly served over 700 families in 2014 throughout Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, Middletown, and Dayton.

W. Eric Lusain became an Ohio licensed funeral director in April of 2015. His license adds WE Lusain FH to the Lusain Memorial Network.

W. Eric and Kesha Lusain recently gained approval to open W.E. Lusain Funeral Home by the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. W.E. Lusain FH will become the fourth funeral home of the Lusain Memorial Network. It will share space with Grunn Funeral Home in downtown Cincinnati until a Funeral Chapel is secured in the Cincinnati market.

Upon passing the Ohio State Boards, W. Eric Lusain received his funeral director's license which grants him permission to use his family name. "With great pride I chose to give it my full name because I share this name with my brother, my uncle, my father, and my grandfather Willie Edward Lusain, Sr. Anyone who knows my family will tell you there are not many Lusains, and to be a W.E. Lusain is an honor," stated W. Eric Lusain.

Robert Grunn will continue to expand Grunn Funeral Home in the Middletown and Dayton markets, while Britney Barnes will manage the Cincinnati Market for both Grunn and W.E. Lusain.

More info at www.LusainMemorial.com.

Press Release - November 1, 2014

Bowman and Young Funeral Chapel was recently purchased by Lusain Holdings, owner of Grunn Funeral Home and the Main Street Casket Store. Bowman and Young was founded as Bowman Funeral Chapel in 1952 by Clarence E Bowman, Sr. The Bowman family business was later carried on by Mr. Bowman's son, Clarence E. Bowman Jr.

Grunn Funeral Home expanded to Dayton with a second funeral home on South Patterson Boulevard last year. "Grunn Dayton became so busy we had to look for resources to help keep pace with our growth," stated owner Eric Lusain. " Our Dayton funeral home currently averages 20 cremation and funerals per month."

"I had no idea we would be this busy in Dayton. Our Cincinnati funeral home averages 30 services per month, but the death rate is 3 to 4 times higher there. Since Grunn Dayton opened in 2013 we relied upon Bowman Funeral Home and its staff to help serve families. It only made since to combine resources."

Lusain does not plan to merge the Grunn and Bowman brands. Instead they will both be a part of the Lusain Memorial Network and maintain separate identities. "Mr. Bowman has a unique and rich legacy to maintain. We will maintain the traditional African-American Funerals instituted by Mr. Bowman," said Lusain.

Bowman will become the Young Funeral Home, a segment of Lusain Memorial along with Grunn Funeral Home and the Main Street Casket Store - a discount casket retailer open to the public. Both funeral homes will share staff and Lusain's signature Mercedes Fleet Vehicles. Lusain will keep Bowman's entire staff and add new signage during the first week of November.