History
Lyman Sleeper (in front of the iron bed) with his son A. R. Sleeper to his right. Taken from The Iola Register on October 25, 1947.
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 Allan Sleeper
The Sleeper Mortuary was established in 1886 by Lyman Sleeper. Allan Sleeper became his father's business partner in 1902. Sleeper mortuary had two devastating fires. One in 1902 and one in 1915. The fire in January of 1915 devastated the business and the loss was listed at $20,000. Unfortunately, Lyman Sleeper passed away on August 7, 1915. At the time, Sleeper Mortuary was located at 106 N. Washington (just a few doors down). There are newspaper articles that also indicate that it was also located at 108 N. Washington. It is unclear if the address was changed on the building itself or if they moved the mortuary next door.
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 John Sleeper circa 1932
Sleeper Mortuary was listed as being at 110 N. Washington in 1924. A funeral was announced and it states it's in the "new Sleeper Funeral Home" in September of that year. Allan Sleeper ran the mortuary on his own from 1915 until he became partners with his son John Sleeper in 1946. In January of 1948 Ed Porter and Jim Kinser also became partners in the business. Allan Sleeper passed away on June 9, 1958. John sleeper maintained the operations of Sleeper Mortuary until his death on December 20, 1960 at the age of 49. John Lyman Sleeper was on his way home from transporting a body to Olathe, Kansas. It is said that he fell asleep at the wheel and that he was partially ejected from his vehicle. After John's death Ed Porter and Jim Kinser purchased the mortuary from the Sleeper estate. The name transitioned from Sleeper Mortuary to the Porter-Kinser Mortuary (also referred to as Porter-Kinser funeral home).
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Jim Kinser from The Iola Register on November 26, 1976
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Paul Friskel
In June of 1967, Paul Friskel purchased the Porter-Kinser Mortuary and the name became Friskel-Kinser Mortuary but was also known as Friskel-Kinser Chapel. In about 1978, the name changed again to Friskel Memorial Chapel in which Paul Friskel and his wife Patricia operated the funeral home until 1982. That year, the Friskels merged the two funeral homes in Iola into one with David Yokum. The name of the funeral home was then changed to Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel. They maintained locations at 110 N. Washington and 16 N. Buckeye in Iola for 17 years. In the early part of 1999, Waugh-Yokum & Friskel went down to the one location at 16 N. Buckeye and the location at 110 N. Washington ceased operation as a funeral home at that time. Newspaper ads did say that they were at both locations up until 2000 but they were not operating out of it. On June 23, 2001 there was an ad in the local newspaper announcing an inside sale for the contents of the funeral home. Research is still being done (numbers will be updated as they are found) but as of now, 2,687 families used the service of this funeral home before it closed its doors for good. This number will be updated as they are found.
One of the first entities to occupy a portion of the building was called Heritage Hall. If you look at the front of the building above the awning, you can see where a sign had been that said "Heritage Hall". This was a family style coed living arrangement for college students who were attending ACCC. The advertisement was published in July of 2001 and states that they got to choose between 5 shared bedrooms. The living space was 4,500 square feet and fully furnished. The only thing the students had to provide was the bedroom furniture. They were housed on the second floor and they did not have access to the first floor. The first floor is in the condition it was found in and is the original funeral home layout. I honestly have no idea how the first floor funeral home layout remained intact after 24 years. I can only imagine that the universe saved it for us to enjoy because I have no other explanation.
By November of 2001, Joy's Country Gift Baskets announced that they were moving to this building but they had closed by January of 2002. In March of 2002, there were several ads placed in the newspaper that stated the building was available to rent and price was based off of remodeling needs. A month later, a flea market took the opportunity and moved in. They were also named Heritage Hall. I am assuming that they took advantage of the signage that was already present on the front of the building but that is pure speculation. I also speculate that because it needed remodeled, they got cheaper rent which ultimately preserved it for me later. The flea market ultimately closed in approximately July 2003. In November 2003, Cathy Tyler opened a consignment shop called Mee Mee's closet. By December 2004 it was called Shutterbug's Photography and they remained until January 2005. In September 2006, I did see where it had mentioned a law office for Rustin Rankin occupied the space. It was then called Hope's Unlimited Clothing Center from July of 2007 until at least September 2007. Research is still being done so it is unknown who occupied it from September 2007 until 2016.
The owners that I bought the property from had purchased it in 2016. In early June of 2024, I toured the property and I fell in love with it. There were so many treasures that were left behind from the days that it served as a funeral home. The previous owner graciously left those items with the property. The entire first floor of the property was left as it was. I purchased this property in 2025 and I am also choosing to keep the property as I found it. As a paranormal author, paranormal investigator, and as a human, preserving the stories of the dead is very meaningful to me. The part that I love the most about the books that I write is sharing the legacy of those that passed so that it doesn't get lost in decades of old newspapers. I had been looking for a location to call my own for years. A wise man once said "you don't choose the building, the building chooses you". I never really understood that until that day. I knew that I had to have it and I felt it needed to have me. I chose to name the building Sleeper Mortuary because that is where this story begins. I am going to continue the story of this building and I hope that someone continues the story after me. I look forward to sharing the history and stories of the building that have been created so far. Thank you for taking the time to look at this webpage and I hope that I get the pleasure of meeting all you very soon!
One of the first entities to occupy a portion of the building was called Heritage Hall. If you look at the front of the building above the awning, you can see where a sign had been that said "Heritage Hall". This was a family style coed living arrangement for college students who were attending ACCC. The advertisement was published in July of 2001 and states that they got to choose between 5 shared bedrooms. The living space was 4,500 square feet and fully furnished. The only thing the students had to provide was the bedroom furniture. They were housed on the second floor and they did not have access to the first floor. The first floor is in the condition it was found in and is the original funeral home layout. I honestly have no idea how the first floor funeral home layout remained intact after 24 years. I can only imagine that the universe saved it for us to enjoy because I have no other explanation.
By November of 2001, Joy's Country Gift Baskets announced that they were moving to this building but they had closed by January of 2002. In March of 2002, there were several ads placed in the newspaper that stated the building was available to rent and price was based off of remodeling needs. A month later, a flea market took the opportunity and moved in. They were also named Heritage Hall. I am assuming that they took advantage of the signage that was already present on the front of the building but that is pure speculation. I also speculate that because it needed remodeled, they got cheaper rent which ultimately preserved it for me later. The flea market ultimately closed in approximately July 2003. In November 2003, Cathy Tyler opened a consignment shop called Mee Mee's closet. By December 2004 it was called Shutterbug's Photography and they remained until January 2005. In September 2006, I did see where it had mentioned a law office for Rustin Rankin occupied the space. It was then called Hope's Unlimited Clothing Center from July of 2007 until at least September 2007. Research is still being done so it is unknown who occupied it from September 2007 until 2016.
The owners that I bought the property from had purchased it in 2016. In early June of 2024, I toured the property and I fell in love with it. There were so many treasures that were left behind from the days that it served as a funeral home. The previous owner graciously left those items with the property. The entire first floor of the property was left as it was. I purchased this property in 2025 and I am also choosing to keep the property as I found it. As a paranormal author, paranormal investigator, and as a human, preserving the stories of the dead is very meaningful to me. The part that I love the most about the books that I write is sharing the legacy of those that passed so that it doesn't get lost in decades of old newspapers. I had been looking for a location to call my own for years. A wise man once said "you don't choose the building, the building chooses you". I never really understood that until that day. I knew that I had to have it and I felt it needed to have me. I chose to name the building Sleeper Mortuary because that is where this story begins. I am going to continue the story of this building and I hope that someone continues the story after me. I look forward to sharing the history and stories of the building that have been created so far. Thank you for taking the time to look at this webpage and I hope that I get the pleasure of meeting all you very soon!
The Iola Register : January 11, 2000
