1930
D. D. Hartzler & Sons funeral home was first established in 1930 in the small rural town of New Windsor. Daniel D. Hartzler, a second generation funeral director, had been a funeral director in Martinsburg, West Virginia. During the depression, he was experiencing that the people in this industrial town were not financially able to pay for the burial of their loved ones. He contacted the funeral director in New Windsor, who wanted to move back to his native West Virginia and they switched locations.
Daniel D. Hartzler was followed in the funeral service by his sons, Honor "Jack" (left) and Byron E. Hartzler.
1954
They soon opened an office in Union Bridge when Jack married Kate Eline. They purchased the home on the corner of Main and Locust Streets, which was their residence and the funeral home. In 1954, after the Union Bridge Church of the Brethren built a new church, the 6 E. Broadway church property was purchased and renovated for a funeral home.
This horse-drawn hearse was owned and used by the funeral home until 1955 for members of the Old Order German Baptist Church. Due to lack of storage, this hearse was sold because the remaining members of the congregation would use the motorized hearse.
1958
Byron's wife, Thelma Nusbaum Hartzler, became one of the first female licensees in the state of Maryland in 1958 and in 1962 their son, Daniel D. Hartzler, joined the firm.
1964
In 1964 land was purchased on Route 26 and a new building was erected and the funeral home was moved from Walnut Street in Libertytown to this new facility.
Dan's wife, Catharine O. "Kit" became a licensed member of the funeral home in 1977.
1980
1980 brought the purchase of the Barrick home in Woodsboro that was built during the period of World War I. From the 1950s through the 70s Powell and Hartzler was the funeral home in Woodsboro, operating out of Mr. Powell's home on Main Street. The purchase and renovation of the new funeral home at the corner of Barricks Lane and South Main Street was the end of Powell and Hartzler and completed the fourth location of D. D. Hartzler & Sons.
1988
In 1988 the fifth generation became licensed members with, Jeffery S. "Jeb" Hartzler and in 1998 Sandra L. Hartzler Brothers.