Gross Mortuary, 1017 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, Arkansas, Last Ambulance Fleet, 1973 (Photo by Dr. Jim Moshinskie)

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GROSS MORTUARY
AMBULANCE FLEET

This unique collection of vehicles served as the last fleet of ambulances operated by the Gross Mortuary, then located at 1017 Central Avenue, in downtown Hot Springs, Arkansas. The mortuary went out of the ambulance business on July 1, 1973, and a joint city / county operation took over.

Ambulance service was taken over by the new city/county ambulance service called the Hot Springs/Garland County Ambulance Service. Two members of the Gross ambulance staff joined the new ambulance service. Steve Nawojczk became the Director and James "Red" Hughes, longtime ambulance driver for Gross Mortuary, became the chief technician.

The final Gross Mortuary fleet included:

1. a 1967 two-tone brown Cadillac hearse / ambulance combination (Gross Mortuary used its three hearse-ambulance combinations as back-up ambulances. These hearses were painted all black for many years, but when the building was remodeled in 1968, the hearse and limousine fleet became two-tone brown to match the new color theme for the remodeled mortuary. This ambulance was the single leftover from this brown fleet),

2. a 1972 black and gold Cadillac hearse / ambulance combination, (Black over gold was the fleet color theme for the busy Griffin-Leggett Funeral Home of Little Rock, Arkansas, the parent company of Gross Mortuary at this time. After Griffin-Leggett took over the Gross ownership in 1972, it added this nice looking black and gold hearse / ambulance combination to the Gross fleet.) and

3. the first-out 1970 bright yellow Superior Econoline van ambulance conversion mad by Superior coaches (Car 6 on the 2-way radio). The mortuary logo was displayed on the sides of the van. The Ford Econoline van ambulance carried two wheeled stretchers which made it an ideal emergency vehicle for accidents with multiple injuries. It had dual electronic sirens. Obviously, it did not ride as well as the Cadillac vehicles.

The mortuary ran over 2,000 ambulance calls a year. It kept one crew on duty 24 hours a day, and stand-by crews could be called in during busy times at night. During the day, funeral directors manned the back-up ambulances. One longtime beloved driver for Gross Mortuary was Carlis Parker (1926-1995).

When Gross Mortuary was conducting a funeral service in its busy chapel, the ambulance fleet would be parked on the far south end of its parking lot near the Central Baptist Church (pictured in the background of this picture). That way, if a call came in for an ambulance, the emergency vehicles could leave quickly. Photograph taken by Dr. Jim Moshinskie in May, 1973.

GROSS HISTORY
Undertaker Billy Gross started an ambulance service in Hot Springs in conjunction with his prominent undertaking parlors in 1910 with a horse-drawn ambulance.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS FLEET
After Gross Mortuary ended the ambulance service, the yellow van was sold to the A-1 Ambulance Service of Little Rock, where it operated for a short time before it was wrecked and overturned at an accident at 5th Street and Capitol Avenue, a few blocks away from the Arkansas State Capitol.

The 1972 Cadillac went to the busy Griffin-Leggett Funeral Home, then located at 1000 Capitol Avenue, Little Rock, Arkansas, where it served as "Hearse 8" for many years. Griffin/Leggett Funeral Home was the parent company for Gross Mortuary at that time. The brown 1969 Cadillac was sold to an ambulance dealer in Memphis, Tennessee, and was used for a short time by Emerson & Son Funeral Home of Joneboro, Arkansas.

The other ambulance service in Hot Springs was provided by the Caruth Funeral Home, 655 Park Avenue. It also ended ambulance service on July 1, 1973 along with Gross Mortuary.

The Hot Springs police department would rotate calls between Gross and Caruth, but Gross ambulances answered most of the emergency calls.

_______________________________________________________________
Dr. Jim Moshinskie, OakCrest Funeral Home, Waco, Texas

Also See:
-- Dr. Mo's collection for historical funeral home and ambulance service pictures
-- Gross Mortuary ambulance crew in action at a bad wreck in 1967
-- Gross ambulance races on a call down Central Avenue, 1967
-- Picture of Gross Mortuary, 1967
-- The Gross Mortuary building through the years
-- 1962 Gross Buick (Made by Cotner-Bevington) ambulance works an accident

THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY SITE

Click here to view hundreds of historical photographs of undertakers, funeral homes, professonal vehicles, and early ambulances collected since 1967 by Jim Moshinskie (Dr. Mo), PhD, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA. This also includes Special Interest Groups for several individual states.

NEW BOOK AVAILABLE ABOUT FUNERAL HOME OPERATED AMBULANCE SERVICE
Humble Heroes: setting the record straight about funeral home operated ambulance service

"Humble Heroes" is a book that endeavors to set the record straight about funeral home operated ambulance service. Myths and misconceptions are addressed one by one. Twelve chapters address response times, training, equipment, finances as well as a chapter about a funeral home currently operating emergency ambulance service. Nearly 30 black and white period photos by Bill Dever, Dr. Jim Moshinskie and Kent Kirkley of funeral home based ambulances and their crews at work. Softcover, 40 pages, $12. TO ORDER: send a check or money order for $12 payable to Scott Reinbolt at P.O. Box 103, Blanchester, OH. 45107. Please don’t forget to include the address you would like the book shipped to.

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Taken in: United States / Arkansas / Hot Springs (show map)

Taken on: May 28, 2007

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