HOULTON, Maine — Longevity is not always the norm these days. Businesses come and go, but for the Dunn family of Houlton, family and business are very much ongoing.
Abrahm Barrett Carmichael, the great-great-grandson of Frank Dunn, has chosen to continue in the footsteps of four generations before him, serving the community of Houlton as a licensed funeral director.
Back in 1908, Frank Dunn, who had migrated to Houlton from Canada, joined forces with Alfred Astle and Dr. Parker Ward. Together they created a funeral service and a furniture store. The business was located on Court Street under the Opera House, where silent movies were shown. As it grew, the business moved to a larger facility on the same street. Dunn was the only active participant in the businesses, but found time to earn his mortician’s license at the Renard Embalming School in New York City.
In 1911, the Thibodeau Hotel burned on Main Street and Astle, Ward and Dunn purchased the burned-out property and remodeled it. Half of the first floor was used by the furniture store, while the other half became Astle’s Music Store. The second floor was used for Dr. Ward’s offices and the third floor became the location of the funeral service. Here the Dunn family had their morgue and a casket showroom. At that time, the caskets came as raw lumber with family members upholstering and lining them.
Less than a dozen years later, Dunn passed away at the young age of 55 and his son, Donald H. Dunn, came into the position, having just graduated from his father’s alma mater. Back in those days, all businesses closed for funeral services of influential towns’ people.
Another tradition common at this time was having calling hours at the person’s home. Donald felt this was a hardship on the families, causing an upheaval at the home for other family members. He had heard of other places having a location where one could hold calling hours and a funeral service, allowing folks to gather without turning the house upside down.
So, in 1939 Donald purchased the house next door to him at 11 Park St., where the Dunn Funeral Home is located today.
Donald Dunn also went on to build a new Dunn Furniture Company which occupied the entire building at the junction of Route One and Interstate 95. The furniture business down-sized after the closure of Loring Air Force Base and has since closed. The building is now shared by the Dollar Store and Walgreens with two empty store fronts in between.
Two of Donald’s sons, David B. and John B. Dunn, continued in the role of funeral directors for a span of 60 years. Then Donald D. Dunn, a grandson, took on the position until his passing in 2014. Since that time, Steve Lunn of the Duncan Graves Funeral Home in Mars Hill and Presque Isle, has provided residents with funeral services at the Houlton location.
Now the torch is being passed to Carmichael.
Thirty-two-year-old Carmichael remembers spending lots of time in and around the funeral home as a kid. He grew up close by on Kelleran Street with his parents, Dan and Jennifer, and brothers, Sam and David. He was often visiting his grandmother, Geraldine Dunn, who lived next to the funeral home.
Following high school graduation in 2008, he enrolled at the University of Maine. After three years, he took a break and left for Colorado. During this time, he worked at ski-resorts in the Vail area and enjoyed skiing and the pace of life in the Rockies.
In 2014, he came back to the east coast, settling in Bangor. He eventually took a job at Brookings-Smith Funeral Home, working for Gary Smith, a long-time friend of David Dunn. Starting out, Carmichael washed cars, was on call to do removals, worked funeral services, and learned all the aspects of caring for families during a very emotional time of their lives.
It was through this experience Carmichael decided to follow the generations before him and he began his apprenticeship and enrolled in the mortuary program offered by the Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, Texas, where he graduated in 2018.
Since graduation, Carmichael continued his work at Brookings-Smith, and is grateful for the tremendous amount of experience gained during his time there.
Carmichael said he looks forward to renewing old acquaintances and continuing a caring service to families in this area, as did his family before him. To plan your future needs, contact Carmichael at 207-532-7403 or visit www.dunnfuneral.com.
