A historic funeral home in Lansford will be closing its doors in a few weeks, as the Shawn E. Clark Funeral Home will be moving to Schuylkill County.

“We acquired three other funeral homes, so we’re merging this business with three other locations,” said Shawn Clark, funeral director.

“All of the prearranged funeral services that I have, in addition to the families that I previously served - I will honor all of those contracts and help those families in the future,” Clark said.

Clark, originally from Ringtown, said the merger is with Kull-Heizenroth Funeral Home Inc. and Rothermel-Heizenroth Funeral Home, which are located in northern Schuylkill and Northumberland counties. His funeral home isn’t the only business leaving the Panther Valley area. Clark, also owner of Ten-X-Sport Shop in Lansford, will be moving that business to Ringtown.

“Every business move I make is a move closer to where I’m from,” said Clark. “I like serving people that I know, grew up with and previously served and of course new people that I don’t even know. I take what I do very seriously.”

Clark said his three funeral industry acquisitions do five times the amount of business compared to what he does in Lansford per year.

“The funeral home here was enough for one guy to make an honest living - it started out small and evolved into something much bigger. I never expected it,” Clark said.

“I’m very grateful for what I’ve acquired and accomplished. It’s all due to the fact, especially in the funeral business, to the families that took trust and confidence in me, and that’s what made my ability to expand. If it wouldn’t have been for them, it wouldn’t have ever happened.”

Clark will be sad to go, but said the opportunity was too good to pass up.

“I always went above and beyond. I started with nothing, literally from scratch,” Clark added.

Clark said after the move, the current funeral home venue will become a private residence.

The transition will take place in mid-January.

“I have two boys, and they’re young. One is 8 and the other is 3. If they ever get into this business, there is not enough work in this area to support them.”

The funeral home in Lansford was built in 1933 for Russell A. Holmes, which he later passed on to his son. Then, Sank Griffiths then owned it until 2010, when Clark took over in 2011.

Clark said his wife, Melissa, will join him to help run the growing business in Schuylkill County.