1924 in 1924 at the age of 66, Mr. Beecher succumbed to a heart attack, leaving the business to Mr. Bennett. In spite of the depths of the great depression in 1932, Mr. Bennett’s funeral business was growing. Bennett decided to hire Iver A. Erickson as Assistant Funeral Director after Erickson graduated from embalming school in New York. Iver Erickson worked with James M. Bennett until Mr. Bennett’s death in 1958.