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Ertel Funeral Home

Our goal is to render the best service possible, warmly and professionally, to those who allow us the privilege of serving their needs. We serve all our families with respect, dignity, and understanding, ready to design services.

Ertel Funeral Home in Cortez, CO is celebrating its 100th anniversary of service to Montezuma and Dolores Counties, as well as the Ute Mountain Ute and Navajo tribes; still owned and operated by the founding family. Kinsey Ertel, the fourth generation of the Ertel family, has led the business since the spring of 2016, taking over from her father, Keenan Ertel, as he had in 1993 from his father, Walter Ertel. Her great-grandfather, J.W. Ertel, founded the business in 1921 and headed the business until 1956. “There’s an immense amount of pride and honor that comes with carrying on our family’s legacy,” said Kinsey. “My family and our community have a shared history, and we are excited to note and celebrate that relationship.” J.W. Ertel homesteaded land in Ackmen in the Pleasant View area in 1916 and bought the mortuary in Cortez in 1921. In 1936, the present building was finished and dedicated, lauded by the Cortez Sentinel as “the finest mortuary on the whole western slope of Colorado.”

For several decades after the construction of the Ertel Funeral Home, it was one of the few places in town with enough space and appropriate decor to lend itself to formal gatherings. . .