The Washburn-McReavy name is synonymous with the Twin Cities funeral industry. That’s due to the hard work of the man who followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and built a business steeped in compassion for people who’ve lost loved ones.
William L. McReavy was born in Minneapolis on April 16, 1932. He almost didn’t make it. The doctor pronounced him dead, but, according to his obituary in the Minnesota Star Tribune, his aunt Marion, a nurse, took him into a back room and gave him a shot in the heart. It was just the spark the little boy needed.
He grew up in Southeast Minneapolis and graduated from Marshall High School in 1950.
The McReavys had been in the funeral business since 1857, when William Washburn started a furniture store that soon became an undertaking business. His nephew Donald McReavy became his helper and Washburn changed the name of the company to Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapel in 1931.
Donald had just a brief tenure as head of the company. He died unexpectedly in 1949, and his wife Lillian and William jumped in to keep the business going. Bill was just 17 at the time. He managed to earn a B.S. in mortuary science from the University of Minnesota in 1952 while working. He married his college sweetheart, Kathleen “Kay” Hammer shortly after graduation. They lived in the Northeast/St. Anthony area for many years and raised their family here.
The original mortuary on the corner of Central Avenue and 4th Street SE soon proved inadequate for his entrepreneurial drive, and McReavy made his first expansion into Northeast Minneapolis, on the corner of 29th and Johnson St. It was there that he established the Washburn-McReavy “look” with a red brick exterior and white columns around the front entrance.
Over the years, he continued to expand the business. He innovated, too. He was the first in the Twin Cities to replace black hearses with white ones, and the first to acquire a cemetery (Hillside). Washburn-McReavy now owns 17 funeral chapels and four cemeteries.
His professional career was marked by a presidency of the Minnesota Funeral Directors Association in 1970 and a Regents Award from the University of Minnesota Program in Mortuary Science in 2021 for furthering the profession. He served on the boards of Third Northwestern and Central Avenue banks and was a 16-year trustee on the board of North Memorial Hospital. Although he retired a few years ago, he maintained an interest in the business and frequently attended funerals of people he knew.
“Bill Sr.” participated in several Northeast organizations, including the Arcana Masonic Lodge and Zuhrah Shrine Temple, where he once served as president of the Zuhrah Patrol and chief masquer. He was also president of the Northeast Shrine Club and the Northeast Kiwanis.
He and Kay were active members of Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church and contributed to many Northeast organizations, events and schools. Ardent fans of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, they also provided financial support to U of M men’s football, basketball and hockey programs and women’s basketball and hockey teams.
William McReavy Sr. is survived by his wife of 70 years, Kathleen B. “Kay”; son, Don (Karen) of Colorado; daughters, Cyndi McReavy-Seitz of Minneapolis, and Sandie (Tim) Shaughnessy of North Carolina; son, William W. “Bill Jr.” of Minneapolis; 11 grandsons; 20 great-grandchildren; and sisters, Arlene Albers and Roxanne Shun, both of Minneapolis.
Services were held Jan. 8 at Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis.