When he graduated from Monroe City High School in the 1990s, Todd Yager dreamed of becoming a high school teacher and a basketball coach.

Now, he’s the owner of four funeral homes.

“I truly love it,” Yager said. “It has that competitiveness to me. It has that competitiveness to do things as good as you can. A lot of times we’ve got so much on our plate going on at once. To be able to do it all in an excellent manner, it’s very rewarding.”

On April 1, Yager will be the new owner of Myers Funeral Home. He recently purchased the longtime business from mother and daughter duo Jane and Jill Myers.

“Todd has been in contact with us a few times over the past few years,” Jill said. “My mom turned 67 last month, so I felt it was time for her to retire and get off of a 24/7 job that she had done her entire life.”

The 45-year-old Yager also owns Schlanker Funeral Home in Montgomery City as well as Arnold and Pickering funeral homes in Mexico. He bought Schlanker Funeral Home in 2016.

Yager will take over a business that has been serving the Wellsville and Middletown communities since 1960. It has locations at 203 East Bates Street in Wellsville and 203 Main Street in Middletown.

“We helped each other in different circumstances here and there,” said Yager, who has owned Arnold Funeral Home for 16 years and Pickering for two. “They are tremendous people and you don’t just go out and buy a place unless they have a great reputation and you feel that you could continue that. I feel we work hard. We try to do everything to give families the commitment and the care they deserve. We try to honor the wishes the best we can.”

The funeral home was founded by Howard Myers in 1960. Jane and husband Kent became sole owners of the business in 1986, four years after Howard passed. After Kent died in 2006, Jane and Jill took over duties as funeral home owners and operators.

“When my dad (Kent) got sick, I’ve been approached by somebody who said when something happens, they would be interested to buy us,” Jill said. “In the 15 years that we have been here, we had different people approaching us about buying us.”

Jill said selling the business was not an easy decision.

“It’s a business that we’re losing, but it’s our family home and our childhood home that we’re letting go as well,” Jill said.

Jane said now that she’s retiring, she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family.

“I’m going to see a couple of grandkids in Virginia,” Jane said. “I’ve got five grandchildren whom I don’t get to spend as much time with as I would like to. My plan is spending a little bit more time with them.”

Yager said his goal as owner of Myers Funeral Home is helping people meet their needs with compassion and comfort.

“The main thing is to try living up to the standards that the Myers family has and to be there for everyone when people need you,” Yager said. “That’s the thing I strive for. You hear some funeral homes that say, ‘Oh, we’ll get there when we can.’ That’s not how we think because when they need us, we need to respond as quickly as possible. That’s something that’s really important to me.”

Yager said even though he will be the new owner, the name of the funeral home will not change.

“It will be Myers forever,” he said.