By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A crematory is planned for Hillsboro after the city council granted a rezoning request for a portion of property owned by Jost Funeral Home at 401 S. Washington St.

Funeral director Jared Jost plans to convert a garage already on the property to install the 9-by-12-by-8-foot equipment.

Requests for crematory services led to Jost’s decision to pursue providing the service. Traditional funerals used to be the norm and now the public is asking for cremation more often. He wants to keep his business relevant in today’s society, Jost said.

“I believe the closest crematory would probably be Wichita,” Jost said. “When a cremation is done, I have to go to a different place, so I have to go through a lot of road time for that.”

Jost said he hoped to have cremation service up and going within six months. First he has to take state-mandated training to be licensed for cremations.

“This was the first really big step in the process,” he said.

Jost said the equipment operates so quietly that if a cremation is taking place at the same time as a funeral service, no one would notice the sound.

A funeral home has been in business at that location since 1887.

“My funeral home is the oldest continuously-operated business in Hillsboro,” Jost said. “It was owned and operated by the Goertz family, who sold it to Ty Zeiner in the early 1990s. I purchased the funeral home in 2001.”

Jost said he is thankful city officials helped get the project approved.