History

In 1945, E. Paul drove around the suburbs of Kansas City looking for a community that would support a funeral home. He decided on the site at 301 Main Street in Shawnee - a location now identified as Johnson Drive and Bluejacket - where the vacated Mueller grocery store and a gas station were located. A chapel was built adjoining the two vacant buildings, and in 1946, E. Paul and Hazel Amos opened the E. Paul Amos Funeral Home. Together they had two children, Gene and Paula Ramona.

As Shawnee grew from about 800 residents in 1945 to over 65,000 today, so did the funeral business. The business then became known as the Amos Family Funeral Home.

In the early years, E. Paul, became very involved in the Shawnee community. He helped organize the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce and served as their first President. He was a charter member of the Shawnee Mission Rotary Club, serving as President in 1949-50.

One of E. Paul’s more notable community involvements involved raising money with several others to move an old territorial jail built on the square in Shawnee in 1843. In 1965, they raised the funds to move the jail to a location on City property. Additionally, they fenced in an area with the intent to create a replica of an old frontier. This project was the start of what is now known as Old Shawnee Town.

Gene, E. Paul’s son, graduated from Shawnee Mission Rural High School in 1948 (now Shawnee Mission North) and went on to graduate from Kansas City Missouri Community College in 1950 and Kansas City College of Mortuary Science in 1951. He then became a licensed funeral director and embalmer. After serving in the US Navy for 16 months, Gene returned home and began working in the family business. In March of 1953 he married Margaret Zoll. Together they had three children: Gregg, Joni and Amy.

Gene’s son, Gregg, graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in 1972. He went on to graduate from Johnson County Community College then the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in Dallas, Texas. As did his father and grandfather, he came home and worked in the family business as a licensed funeral director and embalmer. In 1979, he married Brenda Cheatham and they had three children: Megan, Melissa and Parker.

Gregg’s son, Parker, graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School in 2006 and Emporia State University in 2011. Just as the generations before him, he then became a licensed funeral director. In 2012, he married his wife, Stevie Moulin. Together they have two children: Grady and Jace.

E. Paul’s passion for community involvement set a path for his family members to do the same. Gene and Gregg both served on the Shawnee Mission Unified School District and both Past Presidents of area Rotary clubs - Gene with Lenexa Rotary and Gregg with Shawnee Mission Rotary. In addition to E. Paul being the first President of the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce, Gene was President in 1963, Gregg was President in 1990 and Parker in 2021.