Family Funeral Chapel

Born in the 1920s, the owner of this funeral home was a second-generation mortician. After completing his education at a Pennsylvania mortuary school, he returned to South Carolina to work alongside his father in the family’s funeral home. Over the years, the funeral home prospered, allowing them to expand by opening multiple locations in neighboring towns. The family patriarch died in the 1980s, passing ownership to his son who became the sole proprietor of the funeral homes.

The owner’s sudden death in 2015 left the business without a full-time funeral director. State laws require a funeral director to be on-site full-time and live within a short distance since most funeral homes operate around the clock. Although those requirements were no longer being met, the funeral home continued to operate. Two months later, the state licensing board sent a cease-and-desist notice to the funeral home ordering the business to close. The family went before the state board to appeal the notice stating they hired someone who had met the requirements. In 2016, the funeral home’s request to reopen was approved. However, for unknown reasons, the funeral home remains closed. Today, the building sits boarded up, with the power still on, in the hopes of reopening one day. Recently, the custom Cadillac limousines were removed, perhaps sold, while the future of the funeral home remains uncertain.