Story of five-generation Lovell legacy business told

The Lovell Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated the history of a “legacy business” during the December membership luncheon Monday, Dec. 16, at the Mustang Café.

Honored was Haskell Funeral Home, which can trace its roots through five generations of owners and operators.

Brad Haskell spoke first and shared what he knew of his family history. Haskell said his great-grandfather, Albert Olson, opened Lovell’s first lumber and hardware store after coming to the area with the pioneers in 1906, moving from Fountain Green, Utah. He lived on a farm near town and ran the store and a sawmill, as well. He made handcrafted furniture.

As the town grew and people passed away, they needed caskets, so Olson filled that need with his lumber and craftsmanship ability, Haskell said. Olson’s mother, Carrie, and wife, Serena, would line the caskets with soft material.

Albert and Serena’s daughter, Edith, moved to Utah and during a trip to visit relatives in Colorado met Thales Edward Haskell. He moved to Utah, married Edith and worked for Deseret Mortuary “picking up bodies,” Brad Haskell said. As the story goes, Thales got the job when he said he would work for free for one month to prove himself and did so well that the company not only hired him, they sent him to mortuary school in Los Angeles, paying for the schooling. Brad noted that a kind woman helped him pass his test since he had only a third-grade education.

Olson asked Thales and Edith to return to Lovell, which they did, taking over the funeral home business from Albert in 1949. They changed the name to Haskell Funeral Home. Thales also started a furniture store, Haskell Furniture.

Thales Jr. worked for the funeral home starting in the 1950s after attending BYU and went to school for his mortician license. He eventually took over operation of both the funeral home and the furniture store from his father. His sister, Evelyn, married Kirk Jameson, a young Lovell High School English teacher. He helped out at both businesses when he could and in the 1960s earned his mortician license, leaving the classroom in 1969. He bought the funeral home from Thales and Marilyn Haskell in 1979, Brad said.

Michael Jameson told “the rest of the story” from there, saying that his grandfather Kirk ran the funeral home for many years. His father, Mike, helped, starting around 1984, but also worked for John Nickle at Lovell Cable TV. He married Cristy Crosby, eventually working with his father fulltime until Kirk’s health forced him to retire. Mike took over the business and has run it ever since, joined by son Michael in 2012, the fifth generation.

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Zach Hutzenbiler spoke about Bazooka Lumber and Livestock, which has been in business for 10 years. He moved to Lovell to join his parents in 2020 when COVID hit after working as a boilermaker. He’s glad he made the move, finding Lovell people to be friendly and nice.

Hutzenbiler’s primary message Monday was urging people to support their local businesses.

“If you can, shop local,” he said, noting that not only are Bazooka’s prices often cheaper than Billings stores, Bazooka gives back to the community and helps school groups and other organizations when they have fundraisers.

“We put a lot of money back into the community,” he said. “We like being part of the community.”

Bazooka plans to add a new, large storefront in the near future.

“We want to create a great shopping experience and stock a lot more products,” he said. “Business really picked up this fall, and I hope next year picks up, too. We’re excited to see the area grow.

“We have a lot of stuff people don’t know we have. We search far and wide (if a customer needs a product). About a dozen semi-trucks come to us every week.”