I always wondered why Woods Mortuary bore that name for so long–even after the Olinger chain bought them in the early 2000s. Was it a multi-generational family business?
The answer is no. In fact, William Woods, who owned the business from 1913-1931, died without issue. Here’s the lineage of the business.
In 1880, Charles Ziegler decided to add a line of coffins to his furniture store. That fall, John C. Davidson bought the business–both furniture and funeral supplies–from Ziegler. At that time, the store was located in the Loveland block (where the Old Capitol Grill is). A year later, he moved to the east side of the 1200 block; in 1888, he moved to Ford Street and at some point in the next decade he moved to 1100 Washington Avenue.
By 1901, Davidson’s son, J. Lofton Davidson had joined the business. The son was a licensed embalmer, so he focused on the funereal side of things, while his father continued to make and sell furniture. In 1906, J. Lofton bought the building at 11th and Washington. J. C. Davidson retired in 1910 and sold his part of his business to his son. In 1912, J. Lofton hired someone to run the business (“a licensed embalmer, and a first-class upholsterer”) while he spent time on his businesses in Denver.
In the meantime, a new undertaking business had come to town–Woods & Sanders. They were located in the Dollison building, at 1114 Washington Avenue (currently occupied by Silver Horse). The two firms competed for a few years, but Davidson had moved to Denver by 1916, and in 1917 Woods & Sanders bought the 1100 Washington Avenue building.
Strictly speaking, the Davidson firm was not a predecessor to Woods; Woods & Sanders didn’t buy the business from them, but they did wind up occupying the same location and no doubt absorbed some of their market.
Billy Woods, of Woods & Sanders, was a kind and pleasant man, originally from Ireland. He did well in the undertaking business, and in 1914 he ran for county coroner–and won. He remained both an undertaker and a coroner until his death in 1931.
A new team–Saunders and Cline–bought the business after Woods’ death but kept the “Woods Mortuary” name. In 1932, Saunders ran for coroner, and he also won. He stayed in the job, and continued to run the mortuary, until he decided to run for State Senator in 1948. He won that election and sold the business that same year.
Another new team–Hawkins & Seal–were the next owners. A year later, Seal bought out his partner and became sole owner. Seal ran for coroner in 1950 and won. He ran again in 1954 but lost that time. In 1955, the business was sold again–this time to Paul Smith.
Smith broke the pattern and did not run for coroner. In fact, in 1974 he ran a large ad in the Transcript saying that he had been encouraged many times to run for coroner but thought that being both a mortician as a coroner was a conflict of interest. “The reason is that a mortician-coroner faces a conflict of interest whenever there is any strange or unusual circumstances connected with a death. Should he work in the interest of the family or the state? Justice is not served when the course of action he chooses may be influenced by who is paying the most.”
However, Smith did make the largest campaign contribution (by far) to the winning candidate for coroner.
The Olinger chain bought the business in the early 2000s. They too kept the Woods name until they closed it in 2017.
The new owners did a meticulous restoration of the old buildings, removing many layers of exterior paint and various internal partitions. The first floor holds a restaurant and a honey store. The second floor offers apartments, available for short term rental.
