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Robert Charles Geckler built his funeral chapel on North Broadway in 1919 and was selected as mayor in 1920. The business later passed through the Guy and Hale names before becoming Allen Mortuary. Tinkham’s 1921 biography and a McHenry Museum and Historical Society history connect the stages.
Shipbuilding, undertaking and the 1906 disaster
Geckler was born in Orange, Massachusetts, in 1882. He came to California in 1901 and initially worked on an uncle’s farm in Contra Costa County. A year later he moved into steel-ship fitting in San Francisco. Tinkham describes work at Fulton Iron Works and then Union Iron Works, including work on the cruiser South Dakota.
In 1904 he changed trades and entered undertaking. He later worked for C. H. J. Truman in San Francisco and Oakland. The biography places him in the business during the 1906 earthquake and fire and says he served as a deputy coroner under Dr. Walsh. His path also included farming in Glenn County and a period as a school trustee before a return to the funeral profession. Read the early-career account.
A chapel he designed himself
After joining an undertaking business in Modesto in 1915, Geckler bought the G. S. Wright and Claypool undertaking companies in Turlock. His first location was the historical 201 North Broadway, Turlock. In 1919 he built the larger chapel at 247–253 North Broadway, Turlock.
Tinkham describes a two-story, 65-by-65-foot tile-and-terra-cotta building with a chapel, reception and family rooms, offices, showrooms and working areas. Geckler drew the plans himself. It was a substantial downtown investment shortly before his mayoral selection, and a useful reminder that local civic leaders often built their reputations through everyday services. The Broadway building account gives its layout.
Mayor meant chairman of the trustees
Geckler was a city trustee and police commissioner. In 1920 he won reelection as a trustee, after which the board chose him as chairman or mayor. This was a board selection rather than the modern citywide mayoral election. Tinkham records a $5,000 pumping plant and $34,000 in sewer-disposal alterations during his administration. Read the contemporary municipal record.
A March 23, 1922 election report identifies Geckler as the outgoing mayor. William Edward Bridegroom belongs to the next part of the story, with documented mayoral service from 1922 to 1926. The 1920 selection and 1922 report establish the period without supplying an exact final day in office.
The business after Geckler
Geckler died in 1924. The museum society’s October 2022 newsletter, drawing on Allen Mortuary’s website and family archives, reports that his widow Anna sold the funeral home to John W. Guy. It became Guy Funeral Chapel and later Hale Funeral Chapel under E. Howard Hale. In November 1952, William E. “Bill” Allen purchased the company and established Allen Mortuary. Read Ben Sivils’ historical account.
The mortuary’s own history confirms Bill Allen’s 1952 founding and the later family succession. Its address remains 247 North Broadway, Turlock. That continuity is a business and location connection; it does not mean every part of today’s remodeled facility is Geckler’s original building.
Geckler’s work on pumps and sewers followed Carl C. Carlson’s support for similar improvements. See Turlock’s mayors for the succession of officeholders.
