Our Story
The tradition of quality funeral service began in 1952 with Donald and Edla Bodelson, who purchased a tri-plex in St. Paul Park and converted it into an operational funeral home to serve the community. Ken and Betty Kok purchased the business 10 years later and completed construction in 1965 on our current location at 1201 Portland Avenue in St. Paul Park.
In 1993, with the growing population seen in and around the Twin Cities, a new facility was constructed in the community of Cottage Grove, in order to better meet current and future community needs as well as operational needs of the funeral home. An open house was held at the new Kok Funeral Home facility in Cottage Grove on Sunday, October 10, 1993.
The new facility in Cottage Grove is completely handicapped-accessible and reflects the style and presentation preferences of today’s families who call on Kok Funeral Homes. The facility was built with a comfortable foyer, beautiful fireplace, cozy chapel, a spacious arrangement area, as well as a lounge or second family room.
In 2002, the St. Paul Park location was updated and redecorated to also reflect the current needs of area families. Today the staff continues the tradition of service, being honored to serve area families out of both locations in St. Paul Park and Cottage Grove.
In 2014, our Cottage Grove location went through a major renovation and expansion. In addressing the limitations of our current building, we included a spacious community room to host luncheons and gatherings, additional parking, larger chapel, state of the art multi-media system and comfortable public lobby seating.
At Kok Funeral Home & Cremation Service, we are honored to have earned the trust and confidence placed in us by those that we serve. We pledge to offer respectful and dignified professional service, service that a family should expect, service that your family deserves. Our staff is committed to serving our community today and far into the future.