People

: Thomas F. Callahan; He was born in Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants. He married Josephine “Josie” Hurley in El Paso County, Colorado on August 31, 1895. The 1900 and 1910 US Censuses show them living in Teller County, where he worked first as an engineer, and later as a plumber with his own business. They moved to Grand Junction in 1910. With Ray Younker, he purchased the Griffins and Stowe Mortuary sometime between 1910 and 1914. The mortuary’s name was changed to Younker and Callahan. After Callahan bought out his partner in 1914, the name became Callahan’s and remained so until 1974. Callahan retired in 1944, but his son Bill continued in the business. According to Bill, Callahan was one of the first people in Colorado to own an automotive hearse.

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