Our Story

Our Story

Our History

In 1933, Alden MacAlpine, with the support of his new bride, Alta Nelson, opened a new funeral home in partnership with Russell Paynter. The funeral home was opened at its current Bad Axe location, on the Northeast corner of North Hanselman and East Hopson Streets.

In 1938, MacAlpine bought out his partner, and he and his wife started selling furniture from a small mail-order catalog to help supplement the business. This venture eventually led to the development of a furniture store.

In 1955, MacAlpine purchased the house he had rented since the business began. The three MacAlpine children, Bill, Tom, and Ruth Ann, were raised above the funeral home.

In 1962, a chapel was added to the funeral home, and son Bill and Alan Johnson joined in partnership with MacAlpine. In 1974, Bill and Johnson bought the senior MacAlpine's share of the business, and in 1990, Johnson retired, and Bill became sole owner, with brother Tom managing the furniture store.

Since then, Tom has moved the furniture store to Huron Avenue in downtown Bad Axe, and the funeral business is currently operated by Bill MacAlpine II.

Our Values

MacAlpine Funeral and Cremation Services is dedicated to your peace of mind. Funeral services are overwhelming for most people, and we take pride in helping you make the choices that you and your family are comfortable with. We take the time to get to know you and the loved one’s life that you wish to honor.

We live in an ever-changing world, and today’s funeral service is not what it used to be. MacAlpine Funeral and Cremation Services offers you insight into the many different options you have when it comes time to say goodbye to your loved ones. It is our honor to serve you with the highest ethical standards, honesty, and trust.

We strive to accommodate all your needs when working with your family. We realize that every family and family’s story is unique. We are here to make sure you get the utmost care and attention from our dedicated staff, so that you may walk away, at the end of your service, feeling peace of mind from knowing that you honored your loved one exactly the way you wished to.

We care about you and our community. MacAlpine Funeral and Cremation Services prides itself on being able to offer aftercare programs as well as at-need and pre-need. We understand the need to heal, and we are honored to lead the profession in aftercare services. If we don't offer a service that befits your needs, we assist you in finding one. Our mission is to provide you with all the tools necessary before, during, and after a death, enabling understanding, compassion, and healing experiences.

MacAlpine has been serving the community for over 80 years. When you walk through the door at MacAlpine Funeral and Cremation Services you know you will be treated with honesty and sincerity. We are committed to excellence in service, leadership in our profession, and most importantly, dedicated to your peace of mind.

Two people in formal attire hold a framed award certificate at a banquet.

Pursuit of Excellence

MacAlpine Funeral and Cremation Services received the National Funeral Directors Association Pursuit of Excellence Eagle Award for outstanding community service, consumer relations, and professional educational programs in 1998, 1999, and 2000.
"The Eagle award is one of the highest levels of achievement in the Pursuit of Excellence (POE) program. This NFDA POE program is the premier standard for funeral service excellence," according to NFDA executives.

MacAlpine Funeral and Cremation Services has maintained its membership over the years with the Michigan Funeral Directors Association as well as with the National Funeral Directors Association.

MacAlpine Funeral Homes proudly sponsors numerous local events and charities and remains very active in the community.

Code of Ethics

The members of the Michigan Funeral Directors Association do hereby adopt this Code of Ethics as a standard of conduct for the members of the Association in their professional relationships with those they serve, with the general public, with each other, and with their profession and professional colleagues.

A funeral director should deal with those whom he serves openly, fairly, confidentially, respectfully, and competently. A funeral director should:


  • Enter into business dealings with those whom he serves openly, fairly, at arm's length, and with solicitude for their emotional needs and financial limitations.
  • Maintain confidentiality of communications with those whom he serves.
  • Maintain an attitude of respect for the inviolability of the dead human body.
  • Maintain a sincere respect for all creeds, religions, and customs.
  • Strive to offer only those goods and services that reflect high professional standards.


A funeral director should assist in maintaining public confidence in the integrity and competence of the funeral service industry. A funeral director should:


  • Support high standards of education for the members of the industry.
  • Conduct himself at all times with those whom he serves and other members of the public conscientiously and in accordance with enlightened business standards and practices, with complete honesty in all dealings, and in a way to reflect favorably upon the funeral service industry.
  • Protect the public health and safety by scrupulous adherence to professional standards and maintenance of his establishment in a sanitary and orderly fashion.
  • Help attract to funeral service qualified people of good character and intellectual capacity and aid in their instruction.
    Faithfully obey all laws, regulations and rules governing funeral service both in letter and in spirit.
    Refrain from business practices which are unfair, which may have the effect of misleading the public or which would violate community standards of good taste.


A funeral director should relate to other members of the profession with the highest standards of professionalism. A funeral director should:



  • Expose corrupt, dishonest or unethical practices by members of the profession.
  • Cooperate in a professional manner with other funeral directors when service of families involves the merchandise or services of other funeral homes, including, but not limited to, facilitating transfers of arrangements, both pre-need and at-need, and refraining from unfairly and/or untruthfully disparaging the merchandise or services of another funeral firm.
  • Cooperate with licensing authorities, the Grievance & Ethics Committee of the Association, the Board of Directors and other authorities, public and private, that may from time to time investigate allegations of dishonesty, violations of the law or unethical conduct.
  • Encourage adherence to the law and to this Code of Ethics, including, but not limited to, making timely and good faith responses to all inquiries made by the Grievance & Ethics Committee of the Association or the Board in any investigation of a breach of the Code of Ethics on the part of any Member of the Association.