Rux Funeral Home, which just this year is celebrating being a part of the community for 50 years, is now offering a room to host events.
The Rux family moved from Chicago to Kewanee in August of 1973 and bought the five-bedroom, three bath house on the corner of West Prospect and Chestnut streets. The home was built by John Pierce in 1898 and sits directly across from the Baker mansion on the opposite corner.
Owner and Director Dan Rux, the son of Gerard “Jerry” Rux, who started the funeral home business, has looked into the house’s history. Pierce, at one time worked with E.E. Baker at Western Tube, which would later become the Walworth Company in 1917. Later Baker would start the Kewanee Boiler.
When Pierce began construction on the home, he and his wife Sarah had three children living with them, but by the time the stately home was finished, only one daughter remained at home. The layout of the house included a living room, formal dining room, piano room and kitchen, with five bedrooms on the upper floor.
Jerry Rux converted the living room into a chapel and funerals were held there, but with the addition to the building, the room went unused. That is, until a small family wedding was planned for around 60 people and space was needed for hosting.
In January of 2022, work began to transform the former chapel into a community room.
“For 10 years, it’s always been at the back of our minds,” said Willie Burford, funeral director for Rux.
Burford, along with Dan and Dan’s son, Zach, spent a great deal of time painting the room. The wood floors, which had never been touched, were refinished and a kitchenette was added. The construction took about five months and occurred during COVID, said Zach, and with material and appliance shortages, even getting a refrigerator for the space wasn’t an easy feat.
COVID provided another reason to transform the room, said Zach.
“With churches not doing lunches, it needed renovation,” he said.
Since completion, the community room has offered a space for not only funeral lunches, but also small weddings, bridal showers and group meetings for various organizations. Zach held a Christmas party there last year with a “Bridgerton” theme. Just last week, the room was used to host a Kewanee Chamber of Commerce After Hours.
The room accommodates 50 to 60 people comfortably, said Dan, and can be rented for daytime and evening events. Depending on the event details, the fee is between $175 and $200. For more information about rental, phone (309) 853-4100.
