Our History

The origins of Iles Funeral Homes date back to August 8, 1960.  Founded by Charles W. Iles, Ira Moller and Ardis Peterson, Westover Funeral Home opened its doors at 6337 Hickman Road.  The funeral home continued under that management until 1979 when Mr. Iles became the sole owner.

 

 

Dunn’s Funeral Home was founded on West Locust Street in 1912.   LeRoy C. Dunn moved the funeral home to the old Richard Clarkson residence at 805 Pleasant Street on July 1, 1916.  Later, after extensive travel, Mr. Dunn put into realization a dream which had become a life ambition – building the most modern funeral home in the capitol city at 2121 Grand Avenue.  This notable establishment was opened in October 1926 and has continued as Dunn’s Funeral Home to the present time.  LeRoy C. Dunn met an untimely death on December 7, 1932 in an airplane accident in Texas.  After that time the funeral home was owned and operated under the LeRoy C. Dunn Trust until June 1, 1978 when it was purchased by Charles W. Iles, a life-long resident of Des Moines.

 

 

Grandview Funeral Home was built at 3211 Hubbell Avenue by Gregory Gullick, an alumni of Dunn’s Funeral Home in 1970.  Mr. Gullick sold the business a number of years later to a corporation.  In 1988, Charles W. Iles purchased the funeral home, renaming it Iles Grandview Park Funeral Home and making the funeral home once again family owned and operated.

 

 

Brandt Funeral Home was founded in Dallas Center in 1930 by August Brandt.  Upon August’s death in the late 1960’s his son, Don Brandt continued to own and operate the funeral home.  In 1987 Charles W. Iles purchased Brandt Funeral Home.  Don continued to be involved with the operation of the business home until his death in 1995.

 

 

Sundberg Funeral Home was founded in Madrid by A.M. Sundberg in 1882.   Gary Kirkpatrick, another Dunn’s Funeral Home alumni, acquired the funeral home from A. Merrill Sundberg (the founder’s grandson) in 1973.  Gary changed the name to the Sundberg-Kirkpatrick Funeral Home and operated the firm until 1998, when the Iles family purchased the funeral home.  Gary continues to be involved with the business during his retirement.

 

 

The second generation of Iles family joined the business starting with Mark in 1988 and Mark’s brother Charles M. “Mike” in 1993.  In 1997 Charles W. Iles sold the business to his sons.  At this point the business consisted of five locations, each retaining their original name.  Mark and Mike made the decision to continue using their individual names referring to each as a Chapel of Iles Funeral Homes.  Today the business consists of six chapel locations and an arrangement office.  The arrangement office is a temporary location and will be replaced with a new Jordan Creek Chapel location.  The name of this future chapel reflects the location of the property adjacent to the east of Lutheran Church of Hope and directly across the street from St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.