T he Geisen legacy in Northwest Indiana dates back to 1867 when Peter Geisen, founder of Geisen Funeral Homes, started making coffins at his local furniture store. This was the beginning of a business that would last for generations. "Geisen Furniture and Undertaking" parlor originated in Crown Point, Indiana, and has continued to grow through the years.

In 1895, Charles Geisen, Peter's son, joined his father as one of the first licensed embalmers in the state of Indiana and the first in Lake County. In 1929, father and son built the first Geisen Funeral Home on 109 N. East Street.

The third generation of Geisens entered the funeral home in 1932 when Charles' son Herbert and his wife Edna graduated from embalming school in Indianapolis. They worked side by side and opened a funeral home in Gary, Indiana.

The following year, Charles' second son Ralph joined his father at the Crown Point location, followed some time later by still another son, Norbert. Ralph then continued to run the business for the next twenty-five years.

In 1960, after graduating from the Indiana School of Mortuary Science and serving in the U.S. Army for 2 years, Robert followed in his father's footsteps to help and later own, along with his wife Marilyn, the oldest funeral home in Northwest Indiana operating under the same family name. In 1996, Robert retired after being involved in the family business for over four decades.

Larry Geisen, Bob's son, graduated from Worsham College of Mortuary Science in 1990 and joined his father to being the fifth generation of the Geisen Funeral Home. Together, Bob and Larry worked at the funeral home and participated in many of Crown Point's activities. Larry and Kim Geisen will continue to serve families with the same commitment that was made in 1867 by his great-great grandfather. They have built a new state-of-the-art funeral home in Crown Point and have added three additional funeral home locations; Hebron in 2004, Merrillville in 2008 and Geisen-Carlisle Funeral & Cremation Services in Michigan City in 2012. Geisen Funeral Homes offers a full range of services, including traditional and memorial funeral services, an on-site crematory, funeral luncheons within the Reception Centre in Crown Point, personalized pre-planning services as well as, the Geisen Pet Loss Centre-Pet Crematory.

The Carlisle legacy in Michigan City dates back to 1926. Harley J. and Ida (Runkle) Carlisle came to Michigan City from Edwardsburg, Michigan and purchased Earl Undertaking. It was located at the corner of Michigan Blvd. & Washington Street. It was later moved to the current location at 613 Washington St., and the business was operated by Harley and his sons James H. and Robert H.Carlisle. Robert's son, Bill Carlisle and his wife Sara continued the legacy created by his family.

In 2012, Bill and Sara announced their affiliation with Larry and Kim Geisen and their acquisition of the funeral home. The Geisens are proud to continue a tradition of funeral service excellence in the community as the Geisens have for 5 generations.