New funeral home vows to be an 'oasis of hope'
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on June 14, 2017 7:00 AM
Serenity Memorial Funeral Home and Cremations, LLC, wants to be an oasis of hope for those who have lost a loved one.
The new business offers a combined 50 years of experience between founder and co-owner Dandrell Williams and co-founder and vice president Bobby Summers. Other staff includes Beverly Summers; Kevin Herring, funeral director: Willie Smith; Annie Gibbs; Ashley Hatcher; Tyrell McDuffy, funeral attendant; and Bishop Allen Smith, driver and clergyman.
Serenity offers a variety of services such as economy funeral packages, cremation packages, pre-arrangements, pre-needs packages and counseling services.
"We offer traditional and contemporary funeral services," Williams said. "Basically, we cater to whatever the people want. If they want a band to play at the funeral, we can do that.
"We try to remember things the deceased liked. If the deceased liked fried chicken, we may even put fried chicken out. Every funeral service is unique."
Williams said he and the funeral home staff strive to be trustworthy of the community's support. Serenity is a member of the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau.
"Once a person calls us for our services, we're going to be at their hand and foot 24 hours a day," Williams said.
"Service starts from that first phone call. We become a part of your family. From that time on, we'll always be friends."
And service doesn't end with the funeral and burial. Serenity prides itself on its aftercare.
"We would continue to meet those grief needs," Williams said. "If they want us to have prayer with them, we will. If they want someone come over and do the things the late husband used to do, like cut the grass, we can do that for them.
"We want to be the first name people think of when it comes to service.
"And we want to be genuine about what we do and we want you to feel it when you come here."
Serenity Funeral Home is located at 401 N. William St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The phone number is 919-947-1600.