A History That Goes Back 100 Years
Under the ownership of only two families in its 100-year history. Guinn-Horger Funeral Home is one of the oldest businesses in Medina County.
John A. Horger went into partnership with his father-in-law, Thomas McClaugherty in 1903. They owned a livery stable and sold caskets. In 1918 Mr. Horger became a licensed embalmer and in 1935 he obtained his funeral director's license.
McClaugherty and Horger went out of the livery stable business when automobiles became the common mode of transportation. Until the partnership was dissolved in 1926 when McClaugherty suffered a paralyzing stroke, the business operated as McClaugherty and Horger Funeral Home. From then until 1966, the business name was Horger Funeral Home.
 In 1932 the funeral home chapel was opened, and in 1933 Bailey C. and Oma Rogers started working for Horger. The Rogers continued working for the funeral home until their deaths in 1980 and 1990, respectively.
In 1954 the Hondo Chamber of Commerce presented John A. Horger with a plaque that honored his "outstanding service to his community since 1895".
W.P. "Bud" Guinn came to Medina County from Graham, TX, where, in his teens, he chose the funeral profession. He obtained his funeral director's license in 1947 and state embalmer's license in 1948.
Prior to moving to Hondo, Bud was Funeral Director in Charge of Hurley Funeral Home in Devine and, occasionally, Bud would help Mr. Horger. When he decided to sell, Mr. Horger considered a number of funeral directors before he invited Bud to buy the business and carry on his tradition of service.
In January 1966, W.P. "Bud" Guinn purchased the funeral home - just a few months prior to Mr. Horger's death on March 16, 1966 - and the name became Guinn-Horger Funeral Home.
In the mid-1970s the current combined chapel and funeral home was expanded and remodeled. Currently, the funeral home is once again undergoing expansion and remodeling at the same historical site, centrally located across from Memorial Square.
Reflecting on the promise Bud made to Mr. Horger years before, in January 2003, Bud was awarded the Hondo Area Chamber of Commerce's highest honor, the Cornerstone Award, for "distinguishing himself as a leader within the community and for contributions to the well-being of the community."
In 1980, Bud's youngest son and daughter-in-law, Russell and Dolores, received their licenses and, shortly afterward, moved to Castroville to become the managers and Funeral Director in Charge of Tondre-Guinn Funeral Home, which Bud purchased from Herbert Tondre in 1970.
Bud's oldest son, Wm. Paul Guinn Jr., graduated from Hondo High School in 1969 and, after a tour with the U.S. Navy, returned home in the summer of 1984. After graduating from San Antonio College, Mortuary Science Department, Paul received his funeral director and embalmer's license in 1989.
Guinn-Horger Funeral Home has an extensive and accurate record of burials and
genealogy for the Hondo, Yancey, D’Hanis and Quihi area. The majority of the
names in this record are from original funeral home records, supplemented by
interviews with family members compiled over the years by funeral home
employees. Burial locations were confirmed by physical surveys in the local
cemeteries by funeral home staff. This information is shared, seven days a
week with people in the community who are doing research on their family
histories.
Over the years, licensed staff of the funeral home have included John A. Horger; Mellie N. McClaugherty, Mr. Horger's sister-in-law; B.C. and Oma Rogers; W.P. "Bud" Guinn; James Russell and Dolores Guinn; and Wm. Paul Guinn, Jr.
Bud's wife, Jeannine, and Paul's wife, Frances, assist in the family business. Ashley Guinn, granddaughter of Bud & Jeannine Guinn, is beginning her apprenticeship as a third generation Funeral Director in the Guinn family.
On occasion, the Guinn family from Castroville will assist in the Hondo
services, and vice versa. The Guinns are “on-call” 24 hours a day, seven
days a week to be available to the families they serve.
The Guinn family is honored to have been selected by Mr. Horger to carry on
his tradition of caring and personal service to the community.
Our historic location is across from the Hondo City Park named Memorial
Square and next door to Flowers and More flower shop.
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