Texarkana Funeral Home has acquired three Southwest Arkansas properties: Herndon-Pharr Funeral Home in Hope, Pharr Funeral Home in Prescott and Pharr Funeral Home in Gurdon, according to a press release issued Wednesday afternoon.
The name will be changed to Herndon-Fuqua Funeral Homes, but existing staff at all three is expected to remain the same.
"We've been serving our community of Texarkana since 1939 and look forward to serving the communities of Hope, Prescott and Gurdon long into the future," said Vickers Fuqua, president of Texarkana Funeral Home.
Thomas Fuqua, vice president of Texarkana Funeral Home, said these communities are good fits for their business model.
Vickers Fuqua said Texarkana Funeral Home believes in investing in the communities they serve and "supporting our local nonprofits, law enforcement and first responders and local colleges."
Plans are to remodel the funeral home in Hope this year and have a grand opening once renovations are complete. Prescott and Gurdon locations will get upgrades the following year.
He said discussions between the two business began in August and operations will continue as normal through the transition.
Scott Brown will continue to serve as general manager and funeral director of all three, supported by Farron Wroblewski as funeral director and embalmer, Dana Kilcrease as office manager in Hope and Pam Chappell as office manager in Gurdon.
Memory Gardens Cemetery in Hope is part of this acquisition and will continue to be operated through the Hope funeral home.
Changes in services are expected, Brown said in the press release, including an upgrade in casket selection and an increase in staffing.
Texarkana Funeral Home owns three funeral homes in Texarkana; one in New Boston, Texas; another in DeKalb, Texas; perpetual-care cemeteries Hillcrest Memorial Park and Memorial Gardens in Texarkana; and Unique Flowers and Gifts in Texarkana.