All in the family: Knauss kin reflects on 75 years of solemn work

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, March 7, 2001 | 9:48 a.m.

Ken Knauss has heard 'em all.

As president and owner of Palm Mortuaries and Cemeteries for 15 years, Knauss' friends and associates have made light of his profession with such jokes as "People are dying to get in," "You're the last person I want to see," and "I hear business is dead over there."

Perhaps the jokes are on them, as Palm celebrates its 75th anniversary.

If 75 years may not seem like much time, consider this: In Las Vegas, a city where history is defined by decades, years and sometimes months, reaching the diamond anniversary is a milestone.

Family-owned and operated, Knauss is understandably proud of the success of the business his father, Charles, purchased with four partners in 1956. (Charles bought out two of the partners in 1959, becoming the major stockholder. In 1989 the Knauss family purchased the remaining stocks, becoming sole owner.) As the city has grown, so has Palm, handling 317 services in 1959 up to 5,487 last year among its eight funeral homes throughout Clark County. (To give it some perspective, the national average was about 125 services per funeral home last year.)

With such a high volume, Palm is in a class with other large mortuaries nationwide, said Kelly Smith, public relations manager for National Funeral Directors in Brookfield, Wis.

"(Palm's) size is a reflection of their success in the Las Vegas market," Smith said.

But for Knauss, there's more to his elation than strictly numbers. There's his connection to the business.

He planted 16 trees at the South Eastern Avenue facility in Las Vegas, now the company's flagship location, when it opened in 1972. Knauss, 45, recently walked through the cemetery and fondly recalled those days, taking a moment to marvel at how big of an operation Palm has become.

Considering Palm started in 1926 with one location, at First Street and Carson Avenue (near where the Golden Nugget stands) by then-owners Gene and Anna Parks, it's come a long way.

Over the years there have been 38,554 internments, everything from pauper graves to elaborate mausoleums.

But don't ask for tours of the final resting places of famous people buried at Palm's location. That's confidential, Knauss said. (A search on the website findagrave.com listed only three celebrities interned at Palm locations: comedians Redd Foxx, Chic Johnson and Ole Olsen.)

'Community needs'

Because of the always-in-demand aspect of funeral homes, mortuaries have a certain appeal to corporations. Consequently, Knauss said he's had offers to sell the family business to various corporations. But he has always declined.

"I didn't want be part of that," he said, referring to a growing corporate mentality in the funeral home business. "There is a real emotional aspect to mortuaries, which is difficult for the strictly business side of corporations."

For instance, Palm offers separate burial sections based on religion -- Mormon, Jewish, Catholic -- age and military status. This is designed to meet the needs of a rapidly growing city and the increasingly diverse population that comes along with it.

Knauss said it would be difficult for a corporate-owned chain, which most likely would be based elsewhere in the United States, to meet community needs.

It's a notion that many in the funeral industry agree with, Smith said.

"Funeral homes like Palm may play a significant role in the future of the funeral home business, because some people believe they can operate on a large scale more effectively in regional markets than publicly held corporations can do in a national market," he said.

Perhaps as a result, the industry remains predominantly family owned, with about 90 percent of the 22,000 funeral homes nationwide owned by families, Smith said.

Spreading the world

The Rev. James Crilly, rector of the Guardian Angel Cathedral in Las Vegas, was unaware Palm was family owned, but said he has been very satisfied in his dealings with the mortuary.

"They're very efficient and friendly," Crilly said. "I've been very pleased with them."

In that respect, Palm might not be out of the ordinary. But in its willingness to market itself in various mediums on a large scale, Palm is different than most funeral homes.

How does one market a funeral home?

That was the question Ned Phillips, vice president of community relations for Palm, faced when he joined the company in 1985.

"Most people can't really come to grips that they are going to die someday, so they don't want to be reminded," Phillips said.

So in 1990 he began the "We'd Rather Wait" campaign, a series of adverstisements with a community-minded message.

The first ad was a variation of the "Just Say No" to drugs campaign, with teenagers encouraged to reject drug use and not risk ending up at a Palm location at a young age.

Since then the company has run ads against drunken driving and gang violence, and has even promoted breast-cancer awareness.

There have been other ways Palm has appealed to the public as well, such as its annual sunrise Easter service, which last year attracted 3,000 people, and Memorial Day service.

Of using such events to market the cemetery, "You don't really want to see us," Phillips said. "It keeps your name before the public -- and in a positive way."

Mary Kay Mendenhall, 45, of Las Vegas, has gone to Palm's Easter service for eight years, bringing her family along, including her husband, five children, parents and aunts and uncles. A singer, she also performs as a soloist at the service.

"I really like the nondenominational feeling that's there, and that everyone who's there is there for one unified purpose -- celebrating the life of Christ," Mendenhall said.

While the idea of a "celebration" in a cemetery might seem morbid to some, she said that's not the case.

"I think the opposite," Mendenhall said. "It's not creepy. They're celebrating the Resurrection (of Christ). How appropriate" that it's in a cemetery.