A return to its roots: Snyders Pharmacy to open in Mount Morris

MT. MORRIS – Snyders Pharmacy is returning to its roots.

More than 90 years ago, Hugh Felker started Felker Pharmacy in Mt. Morris. Soon, his grandson, Tom Felker, will bring his pharmacy business, Snyders Pharmacy, back to the village.

Felker owns pharmacies in Oregon, Byron, Dixon, Winnebago and Poplar Grove. The one in Mount Morris will be at 102 E. Hitt St., replacing the former Felker Pharmacy at 13 S. Wesley Ave.

“My grandfather started in 1930,” Felker said. “We missed out on our 90th anniversary last year because of COVID, but we’re looking forward to our 91st this year.

“We were looking for a better location, and this location has much more traffic. It’s right across the street from Casey’s, and you have the stoplight there, which helps.”

The new site was home to a gas station, gun shop and restaurant in the recent past. The inside of the new building is mostly ready to go, but the parking lot needs to be blacktopped. After that, it will be a matter of getting the proper state and federal pharmacy licenses, and the business will be ready to go.

“Something I enjoy is opening new stores,” Felker said. “The day-to-day grind is OK, but the new stores are really interesting and something I look forward to.”

Pharmacy work runs four generations deep in the Felker family. Hugh Felker opened his Mt. Morris pharmacy in 1930. His son, Albert M. Felker, was a pharmacist, as is Albert’s son Tom. Tom’s late brother, Stuart, was a pharmacist, as was a sister, Ruth, who recently retired. Tom’s brother, David, married a pharmacist.

The next generation is Tom Felker II, who, like his father and grandfather, graduated from the Drake University Pharmacy School. He is taking graduate business classes at Rockford University, and is slated to receive his MBA in 2 years.

“I found myself surrounded by pharmacy my whole life, so it felt natural to follow that path,” the younger Felker said.

He likes the small-town aspect of working at a smaller pharmacy.

“Especially with community pharmacy, you get to interact with people a lot, which is really great,” Tom Felker II said. “You can act as a source of information, explaining all of the nuances of the medical world, with doctor’s offices and insurances and how we all fit together.

“You’re really accessible and can answer a lot of questions that are valuable to a lot of people.”

Tom Felker is glad to have his son on board, to run the family business as he had for some 40 years.

“I’m 65, so it will be fun to pass the baton.”

Find Snyders Pharmacy on Facebook or go to www.snyder-pharmacy.com to learn more.