Park Lawn adds another Oklahoma funeral home to their group

July 13, 2026/Finance/

History will tell us that the oil boom in Oklahoma began in 1897 when a massive discovery of oil was discovered near Bartlesville.

Since December 2025 the folks at Park Lawn Corporation seem to have found their own “boom” in Oklahoma. We received this press release last week announcing that Park Lawn Corporation had acquired Mercer-Adams Funeral Service in Bethany, Oklahoma. According to the press release from Park Lawn Corporation the transaction “strengthens Park Lawn’s presence in the Oklahoma market through the addition of one (1) stand-alone funeral home in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area”.

By my count at Funeral Director Daily, I believe that purchase represents the 16th property that Park Lawn Corporation has acquired in the state of Oklahoma since December 2025. Here is a June 15, 2026, archived article from Funeral Director Daily that highlights those purchases.

Pertaining to the recent purchase of Mercer-Adams Funeral Service, former owner Gary Mercer made this comment that was included in the press release, “We are extremely pleased with our decision to entrust the future of Mercer – Adams Funeral Service to Park Lawn. We know that Park Lawn has the resources, technology, and stability necessary for our business to continue to thrive for many generations to come, and it brings us great peace of mind knowing that our legacy is secure and our community is in very capable hands.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily: I couldn’t resist the tie-in with the Oklahoma oil boom. You see, my home community of Alexandria, Minnesota, has a big tie-in with the oil people of Oklahoma and Texas dating back to the early 1900’s.

As you know, Minnesota is in the cooler northern climate and around my home community of Alexandria we have hundreds of fresh-water lakes perfect for fishing. After the railroad was established, and prior to the advent of air conditioning, Alexandria was a mecca for wealthy Oklahoma and Texas oil families to come for the summer months while at the same time escaping the heat of Oklahoma and Texas.

Here’s what Gemini Artificial Intelligence told me when I asked about the connection:

Wealthy families from Oklahoma, Texas, and other southern state historically flocked to Alexandria, Minnesota, during the summer to escape the heat.They primarily vacationed at the Hotel Blake on Lake Carlos and various Bedman’s Beach Resort locations on Lake Ida.

Alexandria’s grand hotel and resort era boomed in the early 20th century. Wealthy summer visitors from Oklahoma traveled to the area with their domestic staff, who served as chauffeurs, boat captains, and cooks. The Douglas County Historical Society actively documents this regional history through artifacts and exhibits.

Our golf club, the Alexandria Golf Club, was founded in 1915 and many of the Southern oil families were instrumental in its development and construction. We continue to pay homage to those folks by having our #8 green be shaped like the state of Oklahoma and the #17 green is shaped like the state of Texas. Behind both of those greens we continue to fly the state flag of those respective states.

Many of those families continue into the 3rd and 4th generation of being summer lake-side residents of our community. They participate as members of our golf club, our summer theatres, and through their philanthropy add to what makes Alexandria a great place to live.

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