ATHENS, Ala. — Many people don't encounter funeral homes or funeral directors until the death of a loved one. According to the National Funeral Directors Association funeral homes are vital businesses that contribute to our nation in ways both seen and unseen. The Peoples Funeral Home in Athens has served the community and surrounding areas for nearly 60 years. In honor of Black History Month, we learn more about how it all started.
Peoples Funeral Home co-owner Shirley Higgins, the wife of the late Bennett Higgins, tells the story. "Peoples Funeral Home started all through the conversation of Mr. Maxie Allen. That was the owner of Oaks Funeral Home here in Athens, and he approached the four gentleman that's on the board there."
The four gentlemen were Homer Moses, Bennett Higgins, Hurbert Ward, and Charles Nichols. "So there was a real estate man by the name of Mr. King. I don't recall his first name, but he was in real estate, and he knew this building was getting ready to vacate, you know, because they wanted to sell it. The Mormons were the owner of this building and then one that could come closer to the city in order to make it more easy for the members to accept the church and to gain more members. And he came to my husband and told them about this building, and my husband got with the other partners, and they came down. We worked with the Mormons, and of course they sold it to us."
When they purchased this building from the Mormons, no longer in the heart of Athens, distance was the number one concern. "But, in some way we we did not lose the families that we had on Browns Ferry. They came with us here, and we still have families that started with us on Browns Ferry and they are still with us."
So what's next for Peoples Funeral Home? "So I taught 38 years. Then here. So, I think it's time for me to rest and let the young people move on."
Higgins leaves only one request for those left to carry on the legacy. "As I say, fifty years from now, hopefully Peoples Funeral Home will still be here and somebody will be able to go back and look at the beginning and bring it up to that point. and that's joy, and that's a blessing."