Brooks & White Funeral Home was founded prior to 1914 in Hurdle Mills, NC
by George D. Brooks and Cyrus Clifton White. They ran a blacksmith shop,
woodworking shop, country store and garage. At that time the infant mortality
rate was high, so they made and offered infant caskets for sale in the store,
and later began providing a service along with the casket. Another country
store and funeral home, which came to be known as Brooks Funeral Home, was
opened in Semora, NC during the late 1920's by George D. Brooks, his wife
Mollie, and their daughter Merle. Merle graduated from Gupton-Jones College
of Mortuary Science, and was one of the first females to become a licensed
funeral director in the states of Virginia and North Carolina.
The business was moved to the current location at the corner of Main Street
and Seymour Drive in South Boston, Virginia in 1935. After the death of Mr.
Brooks, Merle and her husband, F. E. “Tom” Jones, operated the funeral home
until Tom’s death in 1980. At that time, due to Merle’s health concerns,
their son, Douglas Brooks Jones, who graduated from Gupton-Jones College of
Mortuary Science in 1965, and his wife, Betty, took over management of the
funeral home. In the year 2000, Doug and Betty’s daughter, Kathy, a 1993
graduate of John Tyler Community College with a degree in funeral service,
purchased the funeral home from her parents.
Currently owned and operated by Kathy Comer, Great-Granddaughter of George
D. Brooks, and her husband Gene, Brooks Funeral Home, Inc. Has served Virginia
and North Carolina for over seventy years. Many changes have occurred since
the business moved to it’s current location in South Boston, including the
purchase of surrounding properties. This provided land for the construction
of a chapel and visitation area and enlargement of the parking space. During
the downtown revitalization efforts, the original office building was remodeled,
and trees and shrubs planted along Seymour Drive to enhance the landscaping
done by the town on Main Street. In addition to outside improvements, the
office is continuously being updated with the latest computer and business
technology.
However, throughout the history of Brooks funeral Home and it’s four generations
of family ownership there is one thing that has remained the same, and that is
putting the needs and desires of the bereaved families first. This tradition
continues to be the goal of Kathy and Gene Comer and their staff.
