Grace E. Eckerman; Retired Mortuary Owner

Visitation for Grace E. Eckerman, a longtime Burbank mortician and former co-owner of Eckerman Funeral Service, is scheduled for Thursday in Burbank.

Mrs. Eckerman died April 9 of natural causes at a convalescent home in Stockton, according to mortuary representatives. She was 89.

Born in Oakley, Kan., Mrs. Eckerman moved to Pasadena in 1908 where she studied music and sang professionally at church services, weddings and funerals for several years. In 1943, she and her husband, Max, purchased Powell Mortuary Service in Burbank and renamed it Eckerman Funeral Service. The couple ran the business until 1966 when they sold it to longtime employee John A. Heisman, who renamed it Eckerman-Heisman Funeral Service.

Beginning in 1968, the Eckermans divided their time between Napa and Burbank, before settling in Napa full time in 1976. Max Eckerman died of natural causes in January in Napa.

While a Burbank resident, Mrs. Eckerman was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Burbank and the Burbank Women’s Club. In Napa, she was a member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Mrs. Eckerman is survived by sons Richard Walper of San Juan Capistrano and Donald Walper of Rogue River, Ore.; stepdaughters Maxine Atkins of Stockton and Jeanne Larkin of Menlo Park; seven grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; four step-great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

A funeral and visitation are scheduled for today in Napa. Local visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Eckerman-Heisman Funeral Service, 333 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. Private burial will follow at Grand View Memorial Park in Glendale.