About Us

Washburn-McReavy Family

The Washburn-McReavy story is woven through the geographical locations of its chapels within Minneapolis and its immediate suburbs.

Washburn-McReavy was founded in 1857 in southeast Minneapolis. Our first chapel, the Washburn-McReavy Southeast Chapel, is located near the banks of the Mississippi, across the river from downtown Minneapolis. This is the area where Minneapolis began, and is near the University of Minnesota.

Near St. Anthony Village, New Brighton and Columbia Heights, in the northeast quadrant of Minneapolis, you will find our Washburn-McReavy Northeast Chapel, built in 1963.

Minneapolis extends north and west from both southeast and northeast Minneapolis and continues to suburbs that include Robbinsdale, Crystal and Golden Valley. Washburn-McReavy has one chapel on Lowry Avenue North in an older section of the north side of Minneapolis. It was purchased from the Swanson family in 1966 and is known as Washburn-McReavy Swanson Chapel. Our Washburn-McReavy DuSchane Chapel, located in Robbinsdale, was acquired by the purchase of Welander-Quist in 1983.

Washburn-McReavy's Welander-Quist-Davies Chapel, purchased in 1983, is located in the Kenwood Hills, Loring Park, and Lake of the Isles area on Hennepin and Dupont Avenue South. Our flower shop is located at this facility. In 1997, a state of the art preparation facility was constructed at this location.

Hopkins is a suburban community west of Minneapolis. The Washburn-McReavy Strobeck-Johnson Chapel, purchased from Arthur and Ronald Johnson in 1978, is located on Mainstreet in downtown Hopkins.

Edina, which began development in the mid-thirties, is a suburb southwest of Minneapolis. The Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel opened in 1993. An area for luncheon receptions is located in this facility.

North of Minneapolis are the Coon Rapids, Blaine, and Fridley areas extending into Anoka County. Our Washburn-McReavy Seman Chapel is located on Coon Rapids Boulevard. This Chapel was purchased in 1997 from the Seman family.

As the city has continued to expand west and southwest, that area extends out into Minnetonka, Chaska, Chanhassen, Excelsior, Plymouth and Eden Prairie. Our Washburn-McReavy Eden Prairie Chapel serves all of these suburbs. It was built in 1998 and is located two blocks north of Highway 5 on Mitchell Road. It is the only funeral chapel in Minnesota that has a columbarium, a separate room with glass niches for cremated remains in urns. Washburn-McReavy owns and operates two crematories.

William L. McReavy is now in his mid-sixties. He and his wife, Kathleen, have four children. In 1984, William Washburn McReavy (Bill Jr.) graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Mortuary Science and began an active role in the business. Cynthia Kathleen McReavy-Seitz is a 1980 graduate from the University of Minnesota, she joined the family firm in 1992 and is responsible for the administrative area of the business; prior to this she worked in a management position for a major airline. The transition from the third to the fourth generation is well under way, even though William L. and Kathleen are still both actively involved.

Washburn-McReavy has a staff available 24 hours a day. Our phone number is 612-377-2203 or 1-800-824-2203. Our fax number is 612-377-7306.

Our complete range of services include: