Our History

A brief history of Messinger Mortuaries by Paul Messinger

William H. and Vera F. Messinger brought their family from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Arizona in 1942 in the hope the dry climate would help William’s health. They purchased a house and 20 acres of land at Miller and Indian School Roads where they established a dairy and poultry ranch. The house still stands today. Their children, Paul, Phillip and Patricia, attended Scottsdale Grammar School and later Scottsdale High School. For a time, Mr. Messinger farmed the land. As his health improved, he returned to the practice of law in Phoenix. He and family members continued ranching until 1958.

After graduating from Scottsdale High in 1948, Paul attended Phoenix College and Arizona State University, graduating from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science. Paul married Cora Ross, a Scottsdale High classmate in 1950. During the early years of their marriage, Paul continued his studies and completed an internship for mortuary licensing in Arizona and California. After eight years of working in mortuaries in Arizona and California, Paul and Cora platted the northwest three acres of his family’s ranch into Scottsdale’s first mortuary.

In order to pass building inspection to meet state regulation and bank requirements, the Messingers annexed their site to Scottsdale. At the time, the city was less than a square mile in size and had only 6,500 residents.

When Paul applied for mortuary zoning, Scottsdale’s Mayor, Mort Kimsey, advised him the zoning would be contingent upon the new mortuary’s ability to provide the town with ambulance service. If “there was no ambulance, there would be no mortuary.” This requirement presented a hurdle for the fledgling business. At first, Paul declined to offer the service. After careful reconsideration, in order to gain a state franchise, he agreed to provide the service. The zoning was granted.

The mortuary and ambulance service opened in May of 1959. It provided funeral care for 75 families and responded to over 400 ambulance calls during the first year. Messinger Mortuary continued to provide this service, as required by the Town of Scottsdale, until 1968. Over the remaining years ownership of the service changed and finally became Southwest Ambulance Service and continues to serve the city to this date.

In 1963, Messinger Mortuary, Charles Bloom, and the Finley Brothers founded a cemetery, Garden of Peace, located south of the Chandler area and began their first interments there. Due to the long distance from Scottsdale, Paul released his interest and concentrated on developing a local cemetery.

In 1966, Messinger Mortuary joined Guy Stillman in an effort to develop a cemetery east of Pima Road at Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale. In 1967, they asked four other funeral directors, Al Moore, Chester Hansen, Larry Melcher, Ralph Sage and private investors to join this effort. After a lengthy period of delay in receiving approval for the application, the group known as Paradise Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum was granted the authority to proceed with cemetery construction in 1973. The first interment took place in 1974. In 1977 Paradise Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum built a crematory—the fifth in the state of Arizona. Today, it serves over 2,000 families.

Messinger Mortuaries acquired full ownership of Paradise Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in 1983. In 1992, Milne Construction Company, in conjunction with Douglas Sydnor & Associates, designed the first mausoleum and columbarium on the cemetery site. It achieved national recognition and numerous awards for architectural quality, design and southwestern art. In 2006 a second mausoleum and columbarium was constructed, adjacent to the original one, using the services of the same architects and builders.

In 1995 Messinger Mortuaries purchased and rebuilt Fountain Hills Visitor Center Building, doubled its size and created this community’s first funeral home.

In 1997 Messinger Mortuaries purchased a two and one-half acre site in north Scottsdale and built another mortuary that opened in 2000. This mortuary was the first to offer a community room and catering kitchen within the building. Today, it serves 400 families a year. The garden chapel, southwestern architecture and desert landscaping make this establishment outstanding.

In 1999 Messinger Mortuaries purchased Payson Funeral Home and Mountain Meadows Memorial Park in Payson, Arizona. At one time, approximately twenty-five percent of Payson’s population lived in the northeast Salt River Valley. Since then an additional 2.5 acres of land have been purchased with the intent of replacing the current funeral home with a newer, larger one. An additional 5 acres have been acquired in anticipation of future growth.

Under the guidance of the Messinger family and some wonderful long-time staff, the firm has established a rich legacy of service to the communities in the southwest. The successful development of the mortuaries, cemeteries and crematories would not have been possible without the long-term commitment by dedicated staff people who make the difference in the lives of others; who classify themselves as true social workers and have many years of experience to draw upon. The Messinger Mortuaries staff family has the tools and the support of the ownership to ably continue to offer professional, empathetic care. It is the people at all Messinger Mortuaries facilities that continue to provide comfort to families generation after generation.