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The Lewis Funeral Home in San Antonio, Texas, recently celebrated its 100th year anniversary. But this is no ordinary funeral home. The Lewis Funeral Home is actually the oldest family-owned African American business in the San Antonio area. That’s quite an accomplishment for current owners and a testament to previous owners who have worked there for decades.
“It’s a milestone for any black business to be around for 100 years and still be viable,” said Gregory Burrell, vice president of the National Association of Funeral Directors and Morticians. Burrell, who operates the Philadelphia-area Terry Funeral Home, also said this about the centennial celebration: “That’s the kind of succession plan we’d like to see in the African-American community.”
Back when the Lewis Funeral Home began, there were no Cadillac hearses. Hearses were horse-drawn in those days. Funerals only cost about $20 and very few people requested cremations. That’s quite a difference from today’s culture in which funerals can cost upwards of $8,000 and the ratio gap between cremations and traditional burials is getting smaller and smaller.
The only thing that has not changed over the last century is the fact that the Lewis Funeral Home has always been “an open door to the black community,” according to Robert Larremore, the current president of the business.
