Our Staff

Even though Joe grew up in the funeral business he wasn't called to the work in the profession until he experienced the death of his brother, Michael, who died suddenly in a car accident. Like many funeral directors, the experience of loss sensitized his heart to the loss of the families that call and trust the Meredith family at their time of need. Joe knows that funerals are for the living. He knows the need to be surrounded with family and friends who share the sense of loss. He knows that sharing memories and stories, some that make us laugh and some that make us cry, are what begins to heal the broken heart.

Joe grew up immersed in a family with four brothers and four sisters. It was a family filled with love for each other, with dedication to grieving families, and certainly a sense of duty to funeral work. When the funeral home phone would ring in the night they all knew what it meant. That someone had died and needed their dad to come and help them. Today, Joe is proud to be a part of the family business, following in his father's footsteps. And yes, when the phone rings in the middle of the night, Joe goes out to help and bring comfort like his father did for over 53 years.

A 1986 graduate of Prairie High School, Joe went on and completed a Political Science degree at the University of Minnesota and earned his Mortuary Science degree at San Francisco College. Joe lives in Racine with his wife Miriam and his four children, Mickey, Macy, Marly and Mia. Between his work and his family Joe is a busy guy, but he still cherishes the time he spends out with his dad and brothers and sisters.

Joe knows as a funeral director and part of the Meredith family that when families call the funeral home for assistance they expect the finest in service, compassion and attention to detail. He is dedicated to making everything as easy as possible for those experiencing grief and loss. As time goes on, Joe appreciates more and more the the privilege of working with his family and helping the people of Racine. He knows that every life leaves a story, a footprint of those who came before us and those who will come after us. Joe is devoted to sharing those stories and to creating funerals that are worthy of the lives they celebrate.

Growing up in the funeral business has certainly helped me to have the ability to discuss the topic of funeral planning. At a young age, I quickly understood the unique family to family relationship with our Racine community, which set the stage for me. I knew that people were my business and passion. After completing high school as a foreign exchange student in Denmark, I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s Degree in Scandinavian Studies and Studio Arts.

In keeping with my sense of adventure and background my early career was in the travel industry, where I lived abroad for ten years as a tour social coordinator. I lived in the Mediterranean, particularly Corfu, Greece for four years and then moved to the Caribbean. I enjoyed island living in Jamaica, the Virgin Islands, and Bermuda, Mexico ….as well as hosted cruise ships. A constant thread throughout my career was my innate way to deal with people of all cultures, religions and different backgrounds.

Family matters beckoned my return to Racine. In this next phase of my career I held various executive sales and marketing positions in fine printing paper and direct mail marketing advertising sales. These jobs honed in on my skill to determine needs assessment, which in essence helped me to determine best product solution.

My career came full circle when I joined my family, owned and operated funeral firm, Maresh-Meredith & Acklam in 2005, where I developed an ongoing successful pre-need program. Returning to my family to family roots, combined with successfully living in many diverse cultures and consultative sales marketing positions uniquely prepared me to listen and understand each individual, their needs, to personalize and select the funeral of their choice and budget and make their wishes known for their celebration of life. It is my honor as rest of the Meredith family to help, educate and serve our wonderful Racine community.

It is no surprise Tom Meredith pursued a career as a funeral director. As a child growing up in the family business he saw his father and mother care for the grieving in the Racine community. Witnessing the compassion of his dad led to a proud feeling of what his father and the business stood for, caring for those families that had lost a loved one. Then, as now, on one of the most difficult days of your life, the Meredith family is there to help you . . . any hour of the day, every day of the year, ready to walk you through every last detail.

After his schooling in Racine Tom obtained a BA degree from University of Wisconsin Parkside, then his Mortuary degree from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science. He is proud to be a part of the family business and to live in Racine with his wife Connie and their three children, Julia, Thomas and Erica.

When not at the funeral home or with his family you can find Tom playing trumpet with one of the several bands he performs with in the Racine/Milwaukee metro area. Just like he grew up amidst the funeral profession, he grew up with music being a big part of his life. Tom enjoyed being in the band and drum corps all through his school years. His mastery of music and playing professionally now is not unlike his service in the funeral home, working with others to produce something beautiful and comforting for those in attendance.

Tom is dedicated to treating every family the way he would like to be treated; with honesty, compassion and integrity. From his experiences in funeral service and from personal loss of his own, Tom knows the importance of the bonds of the heart and that they endure after death-that life ends, but love and memories do not. He knows that funerals begin to heal the broken heart when they focus on the life that was lived and on the memories of what that life meant to family and friends alike. Tom knows that every life has a story, a precious story that tells where we came from, who we are, and how we touched the lives of all those who knew us.