About Us/Staff

Bannan Funeral Home was founded in the 1920’s as the Williams Funeral Service.  In the 1940’s the Bannan Family purchased the business changing its name to Bannan Funeral Home.  The business remained in the Bannan Family until 1978 when William and Nancy Mischley purchased the funeral home from Harold Bannan.  In 1994, a second funeral home was constructed in the Village of Hillman.  After being employed by Bill Mischley for seven years, Chad Esch and business partner Steven Torhan purchased the funeral homes on December 1, 2006.  Since that time, they have implemented several new and innovative items such as: an up-to-date sound and video system, flat-screen televisions for memorial videos, inside and outside updates to both Alpena and Hillman facilities, and a website (www.bannanfuneralhome.com) for online condolences, obituaries and general funeral information for the public.  Bannan Funeral Home is committed to serving each family individually and in a compassionate manner.  We are a full service funeral home providing services for burial, cremation, and pre-arrangements.  We offer a large selection of caskets, cremation caskets, urns, memorial jewelry, customized memorial folders, register books, and acknowledgement cards to meet the needs of all families we serve.

As a member of the community, we are available for community/service groups as a speaker on funeral traditions, cremation, pre-arrangements, etc. Please contact Chad Esch at 989-354-8411 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions or comments.  


Staff email addresses:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – Owner/President

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – Director

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – Office Administrator