When Matt Daigh’s daughters would visit him at the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home where he worked, they would always stop in to see Al Yost.

And like clockwork, Yost would hand the girls a dollar each to buy ice cream or whatnot – a small gift, Daigh said, but a sure display of his desire to give to others.

“First and foremost, he was a very generous individual,” Daigh said. “He knew the right way to treat people.”

Alfred Yost, founder of the Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, died Saturday at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. He was 75.

Born June 6, 1930, the son of Adam John Yost and Lydia Georg Yost, he graduated from LaCrosse High School and Kansas City College of Mortuary Science before he took his first funeral service job at Lamb Funeral Home in Ottawa.

In 1964, he purchased the Fisher Funeral Home in Wellington, and it became Yost Funeral Service. He owned the home for 13 years.

He purchased the Rumsey Funeral Home in 1978, where he formed the funeral service he worked at until his death.

The years of funeral home service never chipped away at his care and respect for his clients, who often needed his help and steady hand in a difficult time, friends and co-workers said.

“He truly had a heart, and had compassion for everyone that we were meeting with,” Patty Dardis said.

• Obituary: Alfred J. Yost

Dardis worked with Yost for nearly six years. Yost taught her the delicate craft of being a funeral director, always emphasizing care and understanding when helping people, she said.

His message to the directors he tutored was simple: Don’t ever get used to it, don’t ever get hardened by it.

And his words rang true, Daigh said. He learned from Yost as well, and said he owes his career to the man who treated his staff – and his clients – like his family.

“I’m honored to be given the opportunity to work with him,” Daigh said. “I learned from the best. That’s all there is to it.”