Farber & Otteman Funeral Home was established in 1943 when, upon the untimely death of Mr. A.G. Neal, Arlin Otteman of Sac City and Charles L. Farber of Lake City, purchased Mr. Neal's business.

In 1954, Mr. Farber and Mr. Otteman realized they could offer more efficient service with up-to-date equipment by serving several locations and utilizing the equipment between the various funeral homes. In addition to the original Sac City location, Farber & Otteman Funeral Homes were then established in Schaller, Storm Lake, Lake View, Newell and Wall Lake with the Odebolt location following in 1965.

When Mr. Farber retired in 1965, Mr. and Mrs. Otteman purchased his interest and operated the funeral homes for many years. In 1980 a corporation was set up which included Arlin E. Otteman as President; J. Richard Seger, Vice President; Roderick G. Sorensen, Secretary; and Ronald J. Nelson, Treasurer. All four owners of the corporation operated the funeral homes.



In the spring of 2001 Nathan Jensen began negotiations with Mr. Otteman to purchase the Farber & Otteman business. Over a period of time the negotiations concluded successfully. In the spring of 2008 Tim and Erin Smith purchased Farber & Otteman Funeral Homes and they now operate as the current owners.

In June of 2008 Farber & Otteman saw two of their longtime funeral directors retire. Ron Nelson, who had been with the funeral home for 35 years, and Rod Sorensen, who had been with the funeral home for 30 years. As the face of Farber & Otteman for so many years, the two of them served many community families with care and compassion.

Today Farber & Otteman Funeral Homes serve the communities of Sac City, Lake View, Odebolt and Wall Lake. All occupy well-maintained, dignified structures that are able to serve each community with professional, compassionate services whenever needed by the families of Sac County. The various entities of this family of business sites support many community activities.

Licensed funeral directors Tim Smith and Amanda Lynch continue to manage the Farber & Otteman locations today with the same reliable, caring services that Sac County families have come to rely on.