About Us

Our company dates back more than 100 years to 1893 when the Penwell-Gabel funeral home was founded in Topeka.

In 1978 Ren Newcomer, a 4th generation funeral director, purchased Penwell-Gabel and the company has grown consistently through the years. It now consists of 40 funeral homes and 3 cemeteries, more than 500 associates, and serves more than 12,000 families each year.

With administrative, financial, human resources, information technology and marketing functions centralized in our Home Office in Topeka, KS, our funeral directors and staff are able to focus completely on providing the highest quality service to every family we serve— one family at a time.

Funeral Homes

Our funeral homes include the Penwell-Gabel Funeral Homes in Kansas, Dove Cremation & Funeral Service in Topeka, Kansas and the Newcomer Funeral Homes in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Our facilities are impeccably maintained and we utilize the latest technologies to streamline the arrangement process and create meaningful funeral ceremonies for families and their guests.

This takes the form of modern funeral home software which manages the details of each service, memorial videos made up of cherished family photos to play at the service, and online memorials where friends may share memories and leave messages of condolence.

Cemeteries

We are proud to serve Kansas families from three cemeteries in Hutchinson and Topeka, including the Penwell-Gabel cemeteries in Topeka and Hutchinson and the Mount Hope Cemetery in Topeka.

Each cemetery includes many beautifully-maintained memorial gardens, public and private mausoleums, cremation memorialization options, special gardens to honor our military and civil service heroes, and many other lovely features.

Our cemeteries are statutorily funded, including over $3 million in endowed care trust funds for our grounds. We take very seriously our responsibility of stewardship for future generations.

Markers & Monuments

In addition, counselors and families can use our Online Marker & Monument Designer—also an industry first--to select and design the marker or monument of their choice, and estimate its cost, in just a few minutes. This design tool is currently available on all of our websites.

Preneed

We provide advance funeral planning for families and individuals who want to make a permanent record of their wishes through our subsidiary Milestone, Inc. Various funding options are available including funeral insurance, life insurance assignment and participation in state funeral trusts.

Our pre-need associates benefit from consistent marketing programs, in-house training, and advanced software to help track and manage leads efficiently so they can spend as much time as possible with prospects. In addition, associates and families can use our Online Funeral Planner—the industry’s first—to plan and estimate the costs of a funeral online in just minutes.