About Us

Our funeral home was founded in 1886 by Mr. Charles F. A. Sorensen.  Later his son, Charles M. Sorensen, joined the firm known as Sorensen & Son Funeral Home.  Arthur J. Kessler, a graduate of the Goodman College of Embalming, Milwaukee joined the funeral home in 1934.  In 1935, Art married Margaret Gosz.  Margaret also became a licensed funeral director and together they purchased the business from the Sorensens in 1940, and it became known as the Kessler Funeral Home.  Margaret Kessler was one of the first female licensed funeral directors in Wisconsin. She was very active in the community and most helpful with the management of the funeral home.  Art and Margaret worked together until Margaret’s death in 1968.  George Kessler, son of Art and Margaret was a 1966 graduate of the Wisconsin Institute of Mortuary Science and became a member of the staff after graduation.  He worked with his mother and father for many years and became owner of the Kessler Funeral Home in 1972. George retired in 2017 after 45 years of service. 

In August of 2017, funeral directors, Patrick Fahrenkrug and Derek Van Deurzen joined the Kessler Funeral Home and assumed ownership. Patrick was born and raised in Neenah and has been a licensed funeral director in the area since 1994.  Derek, a native of Little Chute, got his start in the funeral profession working as an apprentice funeral director for George Kessler and then as a licensed funeral director in 2009.   Derek and Patrick are very proud to carry on the legacy of the Kessler family, working under the same principles of honesty, integrity and quality service. 

Kessler Funeral Home is a member of the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association, the National Funeral Directors Association and the Fox River Valley Funeral Directors Association.