William H. Bannister came from Molina, Colorado in the 1890s and in 1897 bought an established furniture store and funeral parlor from M.O. Whitehead. At the time, many furniture stores sold caskets and had an undertaker on staff. Bannister's two sons, Earl and Olney (Ollie), and his daughter, Pearl Silcox, and her husband, James, joined the business, which became Bannister Brothers and Silcox. The store later became Bannister Furniture without the undertaking business and, after 102 years, closed in 1999. Ollie Bannister became a Colorado state senator, helped pass legislation that changed the name of the Grand River to the Colorado River, and helped establish Grand Junction State College in 1925.