Charles Thomas

Charles Thomas, a yeoman of the funeral home business, was laid to rest at Hill Crest Cemetery Friday, Dec. 23. His last ride was in a Percheron-drawn hearse depicting the dignity he offered others throughout his career as a funeral home director and member of the faith community.

Thomas, who would be 83 in January, was born in the Bethlehem community of Marshall County to Seth and Faye Thomas.

Thomas had a dream as far back as Kingsbury High School to become a mortician. His friends wrote in his graduating high school annual, "Good luck in being a funeral director," said his namesake Chuck Thomas.

Thomas's parents moved out of their home in Bethlehem, so the pastor, the late J. Frank Wilson could move in. Charles's father, Seth, worked at the Firestone tire factory in Memphis, Tenn., but little Charles visited the Marshall County community often in the summers.

His wife, Juanita Virginia Young Thomas, of Waterford, is the mother of his four children, Jana Thomas Stanton, Charles "Chuck" Thomas, Barry, and Kevin Thomas.

All four children were raised up in the funeral home business. Barry is the only child that did not become a mortician.

His funeral service drew a huge crowd of friends and at the graveside service, held in freezing weather, did as well, Chuck Thomas said.

Because he was too choked up to speak at his dad's funeral service, Chuck Thomas' son Trey spoke on his behalf, followed by Jana, Kevin and Barry, and then by brother Steve Wilson of Bethlehem. Brother Troy Smith, a funeral home director at Wells Funeral Home in Batesville, performed the committal service at the graveside.

Thomas came to work as an embalmer at Reynolds Funeral Home on South Market Street in Holly Springs. Reynolds owned a number of funeral homes, including one in New Albany.

"Mr. Reynolds came down with cancer and asked my dad, `Have you got a gun?' " Chuck said. "Let me have it."

Reynolds went into the embalming room, got on the embalming table, and shot himself.

Charles Thomas was so upset he took a job as a salesman at Sol Cox tractor business, where he sold tractors for six months. But he had to go back to his love, the funeral business.

He had no money and talked with three future partners — A.Q. Greer, Clark Cochran, and Wall Doxey — where the four established the Holly Springs Funeral Home located on Highway 311 in Holly Springs in 1967.

Over time, Thomas bought each partner's share, and in 1987 he bought Reynolds Funeral Home.

As a young funeral home businessman, Charles Thomas sold burial policies that would build his business up from 80 funerals a year up to the present level of 180 funerals a year, totaling around 5,800 funerals over his career.

"He would take us kids and his wife to sell burial policies, which were considered memberships," Thomas said. "The children became members when they were born."

Charles Thomas loved to tell the story of his funeral policy sales.

"I would stay and eat with folks until they decided to buy a policy," Chuck said his dad would say. "Now you see what happened. I got fat."

Charles Thomas survived surgery for kidney cancer for about 12 years before dementia began to set in three years ago, followed by Alzheimer's disease.

Charles Thomas had a love for the earth, and when he bought the land to build his house from Opel Whitten, he had two cows.

"I'm here to tell you, from those two cows, he built a herd of 800 mama cows and the pasture land for his herd. He also had horses.

"He had done the American Way," Chuck said. "He came here with nothing and built it up and he did it honestly. He paid his bills and taught his kids to serve God."

As a devout Pentecostal, Thomas bought land for the Heritage Apostolic Church in Holly Springs and gave it to the church. The church school needed a school bus, and he bought the school three buses. The buses had bald tires, and he replaced the tires.

His wife Juanita worked with him side-by-side at the funeral home from day one, her working the front desk and him in the back. There was a room in the back of the funeral home where the Thomas children stayed while their parents worked.

"His children did not grow up with a silver spoon; they grew up in the funeral home business," Chuck said. "I remember back as a child, he worried about having Christmas for his kids. He would sell monuments so we could have Christmas.

"We never went home to sleep when there was a funeral. We just went home to sleep. I remember Daddy carrying us out to the car at midnight. He worked all the time."

Thomas also liked barrel and running horses.

"We all rode horses through 4H," Chuck said. "When you have boys, you have to keep them busy to keep them out of trouble, and then he worked us to death (keeping up the horses)."

What would Charles Thomas want to hear when he arrived in Heaven?

"The first thing he'd want to hear is `well done," Chuck said. "The next thing he would say is get back to work.

"When he woke up after cancer surgery, he saw all of us standing around his bed. "Boys," he said, "tear up the will and get back to work. It's not over yet.

"He had kick in him till the day he died."