Dignity Memorial

With more than 60,000 homeless veterans in the U.S., many whose remains are unclaimed at their death risk burial without military honors. A local funeral home is making sure one Wichita man will not face the same fate.Orvel King died on July 7, 2017. He served in the United States Army.King passed away with no legal next-of-kin to make his funeral arrangements. That’s when Resthaven Mortuary and Cemetery stepped in to see to it that Mr. King receives a proper burial with full military honors.The service will be held on Wednesday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at Resthaven Cemetery located at 11800 W. Kellogg Ave. Additional participating organizations include Gold Star Mothers who will receive the flag in lieu of family.Resthaven Mortuary and Cemetery participates in the Dignity Memorial Homeless Veterans Burial Program, which has provided over 1,600 services for homeless veterans since its’ inception in 2000.

The deal could close within a week, according to Laurens Fish III, the funeral home’s managing partner.“The ownership may change, but I’m not going anywhere and our staff isn’t going anywhere,” Fish said. “We’re going to continue to serve families like we always have.”Weed-Corley-Fish has rebuffed previous overtures from Service Corporation International and other consolidators in the funeral services industry over the years, Fish said. He declined to discuss his reasons for a possible sale now because the deal hasn’t been completed, except to say that it “feels like a good direction to go for the company.”Service Corporation International said in a prepared statement Friday afternoon that Weed-Corley-Fish “will continue to serve client families in the Austin area with the same level of service excellence they have come to expect.”The company also said it isn’t planning to make any changes to Weed-Corley-Fish’s management or staff.A number of independent funeral services companies operate in Austin, including Austin-Peel and Son Funeral Home, King-Tears Mortuary, All Faiths Funeral Services, Mission Funeral Home, Phillips-Upshaw & Richard Funeral Home, Angel Funeral Home and Harrell Funeral Homes.But Weed-Corley-Fish, with four Austin metro locations, is widely considered the largest of them. Now, however, it appears it will be going the route of Cook-Walden in Austin, which was bought by Service Corporation International in 1993.Fish said his company will be operated independently from Cook-Walden if the sale is completed.Fish’s peers in the local funeral sector said the pending deal took them by surprise, largely because of Weed-Corley-Fish’s long history in Austin.“It was a shocker,” said Gilbert Cavazos, funeral director for All Faiths Funeral Services in Austin, who heard rumblings about the sale earlier this week. “They’ve been family-owned and operated for a long time.”Cavazos said funeral operators in Austin have a cordial relationship, often lending each other the use of vehicles and other resources, and he doesn’t expe...

Montana in far East El Paso.(Photo: COURTESY PHOTO)Service Corporation International, a large, Houston-based operator of funeral homes and cemeteries across the nation, has opened its eighth El Paso funeral home.Evergreen East Funeral Home, which operates as part of SCI's Dignity Memorial network, is located near the entrance to the company's Evergreen East Cemetery at 12400 E. Montana Ave. It's holding a grand opening event from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, with music, face-painting for kids and giveaways.The new funeral home is part of $40.9 million worth of projects in five Texas metro areas announced by SCI last June. The company did not divulge the cost of the new El Paso facility alone.Read:Nona's Pizza in East El Paso closing for new conceptThis is the company's first funeral home at a cemetery in El Paso. The new facility has two chapels which hold up to 200 people, an outdoor patio, and two multi-purpose rooms with catering capabilities for family gatherings, reported Kevin Arevalo, a company spokesman.SCI's Dignity Memorial network operates in El Paso under the Martin, Crestview, Hillcrest, Kaster-Maxon & Futrell, and Jardines and Funerarias Del Angel funeral home brands. It also owns Evergreen East, Evergreen, and Restlawn cemeteries in El Paso.SCI at the end of last year owned and operated 1,502 funeral homes and 470 cemeteries in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and Puerto Rico.The company, whose stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange, had revenues of more than $3 billion, and a profit of $177.3 million last year.Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421; vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; @vickolenc on Twitter. Read or Share this story: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/money/business/2017/03/29/el-paso-funeral-homes-cemeteries-funerals-death/99786098/...