The site of Casperson Funeral Home in Sister Bay has a new owner. A release from the owners of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant and Butik states they closed on the two-acre parcel in the village’s downtown earlier this week after being neighbors with the funeral home since 1946. The Johnson family has no immediate plans for the property while Greg Casperson, a third-generation owner of Casperson Funeral Home, said in the statement they are confident it will serve the Sister Bay community for years to come. The Casperson family operated its funeral home on the property until last year when it sold the business to Huehns Funeral Home in Sturgeon Bay. You can read more about the sale below.

Photo Submitted.

RELEASE

SISTER BAY, DOOR COUNTY, WI, December 17, 2019 — The owners of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant & Butik in Sister Bay, "the place with the goats on the roof," announced today that they have purchased the Casperson Funeral Home property in downtown Sister Bay. The sale of the two+ acre Casperson property, located immediately to the north of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant on Highway 42 at 10708 N. Bay Shore Drive, closed today, on Tuesday, December 17.
 

Lars, Rolf and Annika Johnson announced their purchase of the Casperson property in a joint statement. "Sometimes things happen for a reason," the statement began. "This is an exciting day for our business and for each of us personally. Our family has been a good friend to all three generations that have successfully operated Casperson Funeral Home, and our two businesses have happily co-existed as neighbors since the start of Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in 1949. We don't currently have any firm post-purchase plans for the use of this beautiful, well-situated property," the statement concluded, "but are simply gratified that we were able to acquire it. We're very thankful to Greg and Debbie Casperson, who were amazing to work with over the past few months."
 
After today's real estate closing, Greg Casperson issued a statement on behalf of the Casperson family. "My wife Debbie and I would like to express our sincere gratitude to the people of Sister Bay and northern Door County," Greg said. "It has been our privilege to serve this tight-knit community for over 98 years and we know the Johnson family will do many positive things for Sister Bay with our former property in the years to come."

Noting that a commercial real estate acquisition of this type is complicated, Lars Johnson paid tribute to "the large, talented team who supplied their professional expertise to this important transaction. We couldn’t have made this purchase without our customers and employees," said Johnson, "for whom we have much gratitude, and the following local professionals, all of whom played a major role in closing this sale to everyone's satisfaction: Bill Becker (Starr Realty); Craig Bastian (Kellstrom Ray Realty); Jamie Alberts and Mindy Coyhis (Nicolet Bank); Attorneys Jonathan Luljak, Jeffrey Dunn, and Jason Lohn (Michael Best Law Firm); Attorney Richard Hauser (Pinkert Law Firm); Elizabeth Scrivner (Knight Barry Title, Inc.); Brian Frisque (Brian Frisque Surveys, Inc.); and Scott Bortolini (Cornerstone Appraisal). Finally, our family would like to thank both Tom Schuder (Thomas M. Schuder S.C.) and Sue Harvey (ABS Bookkeeping) for their constant, dedicated professionalism in serving our business needs," Johnson concluded.