Charles Stickley, Mortician

Charlie, as he was called, came to Canadian in 1900. He was born in Virginia in 1868 and in his youth, attended the Cincinnati School of Embalming and had an Ohio license since 1888. On his way to Nevada, he stopped in Canadian to visit his brother, Harry who had come to Canadian for his health in 1898. Charlie liked the country and decided to stay and worked on his uncle, Vas Stickley’s ranch.

A cowboy drowned in the Canadian River in 1902, and was to be shipped home to Wichita, Kansas for burial. This meant he had to be embalmed, so Charlie with the help of Mr. Gerlach’s store for chemicals embalmed the body. This resulted in the establishment of the first funeral home in the Panhandle. Once Texas established licensing for embalmers, Charlie took the board and was licensed. Charlie married Minnie Cain and they had two children, Vance (1907) and Martha (1911). Shown below is a picture of Mr. Stickley’s horse drawn hearse.