Mankato Mortuary a family affair

Satres grow funeral business together

By Sara Gilbert Frederick

Earlier this summer, Gayla and Kevin Satre had to end a planned week at the lake early. They’ve had to miss family reunions, weddings and other events as well. Even getting the two of them in the same room at the same time can be a challenge. But the Satres, who own Mankato Mortuary as well as four other funeral homes in the area, knew that might be the case when they chose their careers.

“We made a choice to do what we do,” Kevin says. “We’ve worked hard to be where we are and we know that we are very fortunate to be doing this.”

Gayla and Kevin met in college. They were both at the University of Minnesota, and they were both studying mortuary science. Although their first jobs after graduation were for competing funeral homes, they joined forces when they moved to Mankato in 1992 and started working at Mankato Mortuary. By 1998, they had become minority partners in the business. Then, in 2005, former owner John Rothfork retired and the Satres bought the business. Now the Satres, along with another business partner, own five funeral homes in the area.



MN Valley Business: Mortuaries are often family-run establishments — but are the owners often a husband and wife team, like you two?

Kevin Satre: There are a few, but not a lot. I think more and more will come now, though. We do actually know another couple who own a mortuary together in Wisconsin; she is from Mankato.



MVB: When you came to Mankato Mortuary in 1992, it was just the two of you. Now you also have two young daughters. Did that change things for the business?

Gayla Satre: We’ve been working long enough and hard enough that we can make it work. I can work at home occasionally if I need to, and we no longer take night calls either. Kevin will do it only if he has to, but I don’t do it at all anymore.

KS: We used to be able to work around the clock and not feel guilty about it. Now we have two little girls to think about. We do sometimes bring the kids down here — there’s a TV for them, and they know where Mom’s office is if they need her.



MVB: Your business is predictably unpredictable. How do you prepare for that?

KS: The truth is that it controls us instead of the other way around.

GS: But it helps that neither of us exclusively handles just one part of the business. We could fill each other’s shoes if we needed to for a short time. We’re able to be flexible during those times. And we have a staff that helps us to be flexible as well.



MVB: Does it help that you each understand what the other is doing, especially when one or both of you has to work long hours and weekends?

KS: It would be so much harder to do what we do if the other person didn’t understand it. It can be a struggle. There are times when Gayla is meeting with a family at 6:30 p.m. and times when I have to work until 10 p.m. It does help that we both understand it.



MVB: Your work requires you to help families through a very difficult time. Does being a family-run business help with that?

GS: Every single family we see is different. We do the same things for each, but it’s always different. Some families let you in and others keep you at arm’s^& length. Some you see for years and years and they become friends. We have one family who is still on our Christmas card list who we met our first year here.



MVB: Does helping families deal with their loss get easier over time?

GS: It actually gets harder. For me, the hardest is the loss of a child. Whenever a parent goes through that it’s hard — but it’s even harder for me now as a parent myself.



MVB: Do your girls understand what you do for a living?

KS: They don’t get it. They just call it work. They pick up on different things. They know all of our staff and will look on our Web page with me and talk about the people they know.

GS: Sometimes they go through the newspaper with Grandma and cut out our ads with the pictures in them. But we don’t talk about it a lot when we’re at home with them. We try not to talk about it too much until they’re in bed.



MVB: Do you think the girls will be involved in the business in some way as they grow older?

GS: Do we want them to graduate from college with mortuary science degrees? That’s too hard to answer. But do we want them to have a summer job here while they’re in high school? Absolutely.

KS: The vacuuming is never done here; there’s always more vacuuming to do. And there’s all sorts of stuff they could help with, from running errands to washing the cars in the parking lot.

GS: I do hope the girls will take a part in it somehow.

KS: But that’s a long way off.