JAMES ROY “JIM” LUDWICK

JAMES ROY “JIM” LUDWICK of Kutztown and Topton, PA died January 16, 2026 at the age of 72. A funeral director since 1977, he served his internship at the Wallace M. Long Funeral Home in Bethlehem and was employed by several Bethlehem area funeral homes, including the Lester S. Pearson Funeral Home and later the Koch Funeral Home in State College. In 1981, Jim partnered with Earl A. Trexler at the Earl A. Trexler Funeral Home in Topton, PA, becoming sole proprietor in 1986, after acquiring the Fritz Funeral Home in Kutztown in 1982. In October 1990, he began construction on a new facility in Kutztown, renaming it Ludwick Funeral Homes, Inc, where he continued to own and operate it until his retirement in 2021. A graduate of the Simmons School of Mortuary Science, he served as a past president of the Berks County Funeral Directors Association and was a member of the National Funeral Directors Association, Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association and the Eastern Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association.