Cornerstone Funeral joins Werner Harmsen

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 15, 2025

WISCONSIN – Werner Harmsen Funeral Home, based in Waupun, recently announced that Cornerstone Funeral and Cremation Services – which has locations in Beaver Dam and Markesan – has become part of its family.

Tyler Schulz, president and partner of Werner Harmsen, said the merger maintains both organizations’ long-standing commitment to ensuring personalized service and compassionate care to the communities it serves.

He said Todd Michael, Taylor Boyd and the Cornerstone team will continue to serve families in Beaver Dam and Markesan under the Cornerstone name, while Werner Harmsen will assume ownership and operations management.

“Cornerstone has been doing funerals for many years, owned and operated by Todd and Jessica Michael,” Schulz said. “They put a lot of time and energy into running that funeral home and making it what it is today.”

Schulz – a partner with Spencer Beek – said Michael’s dedication to the Beaver Dam community was key to the success of the business.

“He grew up there, and then, with him adding the other funeral director, Taylor Boyd, they created a wonderful funeral home to serve families,” he said. “They added the Markesan location to give families the same care and respect they deserve.”

Serving in the industry for a long time, Schulz said Michael has been a funeral director for 28 years.

“Being a funeral director can be very emotionally taxing,” he said. “Because of this, Todd and I sat down and thought combining was the best option. It gives the funeral directors a way to come together and partner.”

Schulz said the merger will also allow each of the funeral directors to take a break from the emotional stress of the job when needed.

“We can rotate on-call [work], because it is very taxing on an individual,” he said. “Basically, for 28 years, Todd did it all by himself. The merger was a prime opportunity for us to bring the resources together to serve families in our communities.”

Furthermore, Schulz said the merger strengthens the commitment to preserving family-owned funeral homes in the area.

“A lot of funeral homes right now are selling to big corporations – that’s not something any of us want,” he said. “In our region, we want to make sure funeral homes and funeral directors are people who grew up here, know the area and can take care of people they went to school with or people their grandparents and parents are friends with. When funeral homes are sold to big corporations, that doesn’t always happen.”

With Beek as his business partner/fellow funeral director, Schulz said the Werner Harmsen family of funeral homes looks forward to continuing its close partnerships with community leaders, civic organizations and local municipalities. 

“The Markesan funeral home will receive interior renovations, and a community open house will be scheduled upon completion,” he said.

Though there is a high burnout rate among funeral directors, Schulz said he and Beek “have a lot of energy and are doing great.”

“Spencer and I love what we do,” he said. “Yes, what we do is very emotional, but we have both found our calling. We’re here to serve families and take care of them when they need us most.”

A storied history

In 1968, according to wernerharmsenfuneralhome.com, Mike Werner opened Werner Harmsen Funeral Home and the Werner Harmsen Furniture store in downtown Waupun.

Schulz said the furniture store continues to operate alongside the funeral home today.

“When Mike Werner started the funeral home, he thought the plan was to have a furniture store with it,” he said. “He merged with Jerry Harmsen – that’s where the name comes from. Jerry ran the furniture store and became a funeral director, and Mike was the funeral director who became a furniture salesman.”

Schulz said the furniture store and funeral home recently marked 57 years of serving the community.

“Spencer and I work at both locations,” he said. “Usually, we sell furniture during the day and complete our funeral director duties at night – or vice versa.”

Though it might seem a bit strange to combine funeral services with selling furniture, Schulz said it wasn’t an uncommon practice back in the day.

“I think we were one of two funeral homes/furniture stores in the state that did that,” he said. “It was us and another one in Fremont, but they recently separated the funeral and furniture store and sold it off.”

Schulz said the combination of funeral and furniture services dates back to the early 1900s.

“The furniture makers also made caskets,” he said. “The furniture men would make the caskets on the side [for] the funeral directors. That just became common practice in the State of Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Mayville, Columbus, etc., all had furniture stores with their funeral homes.”

Though quite unique nowadays, Schulz said he feels combining the two industries is a good combination.

“Funerals are oftentimes very sad – someone lost their life – but getting new furniture is a happy occasion,” he said. “It’s a good mix of the hard times and the happy times. It’s a way where we can be with the families through all stages of their lives.”

In addition to its unique combination of services, Schulz said TLC is what separates Werner Harmsen from the pack.

“When somebody passes away, maybe we had delivered a sofa for them, or we put new carpeting in for them,” he said. “People who have worked with us on the furniture side of things already have that comfort level with us as funeral directors. We have a lot of customers in both locations.”

To further expand its services, Schulz said Werner Harmsen acquired Kratz Smedema Funeral Home in Cambria in 2024.

Not in his plans

Schulz said becoming a funeral director was never part of his plan.

Originally getting a college scholarship to play football, he said he thought maybe becoming a chiropractor was his calling.

“I thought it would be a fun profession, but I quickly realized I was more suited to help people with my feelings and my words than I could do with my hands,” he said.

So, while in college, and still unsure which direction his career would take, Schulz said he began working for Werner Harmsen as a delivery and flooring assistant.

“They noticed I was able to talk with people and had a passion for helping, so they said to me, ‘Hey, you should be a funeral director,’” he said. “I wasn’t too sure about it, but I got sent to school and did it.”

Schulz said he quickly transitioned to a different career, discovering that combining furniture sales with funeral directing was his true calling, eventually becoming a partner in 2018 and a full-fledged partner with Beek in 2025.

“This year, we officially purchased [the business] from everybody who had it before,” he said.

Experiencing his own loss, Schulz said, has helped create his passion for helping others.

“I can sit across from somebody and really know what they’re going through,” he said.

Community involvement

Because Werner Harmsen is so ingrained in the communities they serve through selling furniture and running the funeral homes, Schulz said it also allows them to use their platform to give back to the community.

“We have a lot of association with different groups, and we go to events,” he said. “We work with the Rotary Club, Kiwanis, Lions Club, Waupun Community Fund, and then I know Taylor in Beaver Dam is in some clubs. We also have a staff member who sits on the Dodge County Executive Board. We try to make sure our staff know that we support them and are a part of community events. We try to keep a pulse on the community so we know what’s going on and can help out in any way.”