Founder of Elgin’s Laird Funeral Home to be laid to rest this week

Services will be held this week for the founder of a longtime Elgin funeral home.

Donald Laird, 93, died in his Elgin home Monday, Dec. 23. Laird and his wife Patricia opened Laird Funeral Home in 1980 and turned the business over to their sons in 1998.

Laird, who lived in Elgin for more than 70 years, opened the business after working 23 years at Stout Funeral Home in Elgin.

A Korean War veteran, Laird attended Northern Illinois University and graduated from Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago in 1956, after which he joined Stout.

He was a member and past president of the Jaycees, the Elks Lodge 737, the Kiwanis and the Elgin Shriners. He also was a member of Elgin Chamber of Commerce and served on the board of directors for the Oak Crest Residence, the St. Joseph Hospital Foundation, the Fox Valley Boy Scouts and the American Heart Association.

Laird was a life member of VFW Post 1307 and American Legion Post 57 in Elgin.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, at the funeral home, 310 S. State St. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at the funeral home, with entombment at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Elgin.