Waller Funeral Home was designed and furnished to provide physical and spiritual comfort for the bereaved, their families and friends.
The colonial-style building has more than 11,000 square feet of heated/cooled space. The front porch and carport provide comfortable entry, including handicapped access, from the large, hard-surfaced, organized parking lot. The attractive foyer and hallways are spacious for visiting and for assembling for funeral services.
Two identically furnished state rooms are available; and at times when only one family is being served, both rooms are offered to the family. When two families are being served, sliding wooden doors provide complete privacy for each family. All rooms and hallways provide abundant space for floral arrangements. A family prayer room allows privacy for private meditation or consultation.
A lounge with tables and chairs provide a place for refreshments and relaxation for families during visitations. Coffee is provided, and a cold drink machine is available. Friends often provide fruit, cakes or sandwiches in the lounge for the refreshment and enjoyment of the family and others.
Because the majority of funerals (52.5 percent according to Marks and Calder in Attitudes Toward Death and Funerals) are held in funeral homes, special care was given to providing a convenient. comfortable, attractive, and worshipful setting for services. The chapel seats more than two hundred people. The pews and light fixtures complement the colonial design. The pulpit furniture was acquired from the more-than-a-century-old Clear Creek Baptist Church when it was renovated in 1976. Stained glass windows enhance the beauty of the chapel and provide a focal point for the pulpit. A family room to the side at the front of the chapel is used by those families who prefer privacy. Chapel exits open conveniently into the area where processions to the places of interment are arranged.
Quality sound projection of services to the entire building or to any portion of the building is provided by the recently installed "Musical Presence" of National Music Company. The design of the building permits a funeral service to be held in the chapel at the same time visitation for another family is in progress.
Musicians can use the Baldwin chapel organ, or music can be selected from our large collection of vocal and instrumental tapes. A complete listing of the chapel music tapes is provided to families.
Every effort has been made throughout Waller Funeral Home — foyer, halls, state rooms, prayer room, lounge, and chapel — to provide a homelike setting with an atmosphere which promotes concern for each other and reverence and respect for the deceased.
SUMMERTIME
Summer — although it lacks the big holidays of the other seasons — has always brought many special times. Revival meetings, for example. have always been an important part of the summer for me. As a child I often rode in a wagon from Delay to Tula, London Hill, Polocona, Yocona, or Paris. I have wonderful memories of late night rides home on cool, moonlit nights nestled near my mother, listening as the grownups discussed the services and those who had been there. I remember also summer cemetery workings. which really were as much social gatherings as workings, with lunch spread under the big shade trees on the edge of the cemetery. And I remember reunions of families, classes and schools, and homecoming at the little country church. All these gatherings were important in providing a coming together of families and friends. The happy times of reminiscing and fellowship are precious, and the memories and the opportunities to be together seem to become more precious as the years go by.
Photographs are a wonderful keepsake of times past. One of my favorites has been in the family picture box ever since I can remember. It was made in August, 1935, at my Papa Houston’s on his birthday. All of us, in our best bibs and tuckers, were lined up outside the house: Papa Houston and Gran Beulah, my mother and daddy and ,Jim and me. Aunt Myrtle Coleman, Uncle Reese and Aunt Ruby with James and Frank, Aunt Fadrie and Uncle Stanley Knight with Gerald. Aunt May and Uncle Toy Denton with Juanita. Darrell, Mary, Bill and Betty Jean, Uncle Edwin and Aunt Nona with Martha.
My mother, who didn’t have a camera herself, was always so pleased to get a picture of her family. Even pictures made in town for a dime were treasurers to her, including, I feel sure, the one of me with bangs cut like rickrack.
I’ve always like keeping pictures in boxes instead of in albums. I like to hold each one — at different angles and in different lights. Pictures from boxes can be passed around, and you can read what’s on the back of them. Some of my oldest pictures have no writing on them. I wish I knew just who these people are, how they lived, who their families were, and how they relate to me.
I am afraid we are losing some of the ties held dear in years past. We lose touch with extended family members. At the funeral home we so often hear, "I haven’t seen you in years! Tell me about your family." Then out come pictures of children, grandchildren, and great grands. Parents go in search of their children to see an uncle, aunt, or cousin. Some families make pictures when everyone is together after funeral services. With some, this picture taking has become a tradition.
Birth, marriage, and death are three of life’s milestones. Of these, perhaps death still creates the strongest desire to come together to memorialize the one who has died and to provide a surrounding of love and support for those who are grieving. It is a blessing to us to share in these times of expressed love as family and friends come to express sorrow at losing those for whom they cared.
As I think of reunions and togetherness, my heart and mind linger longest on that reunion time which will be the greatest of all when we are reunited with those who are even now in his presence. We will have all eternity to spend with him who gave us love as we know it in its highest form.
I hope your summer has included many happy events which brought joy to you and your family and which will provide happy memories for years to come.
SINCERELY,
Patsy
NOTE OF THANKS
We express our sincere appreciation to the Sheriff’s Department of Lafayette County, Police Department of the City of Oxford, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, and the Abbeville Police Department for providing escort services for funeral processions. This service insures the safety of those in the processions and also offers additional reassurance to families that all consideration is being given to assure proper respect for the deceased and their families. Many in our community have commented on the efficient and respectful way in which this service has been provided.
CEMETERY LOT SELECTIONS
We are authorized by the City of Oxford and have all necessary information to assist in the selection of gravesites in Oxford Memorial Cemetery. A member of our staff is available to show available lots and assist in procurement procedures through the City.
We also have information available concerning selection of lots at Oak Grove Memorial Cemetery.
PRE-ARRANGEMENT
National statistics show that in 1984 eight percent of funeral services had been prearranged to some extent, and predictions nationwide are for greater interest in pre-arrangement in the immediate future.
The response to our pre-need program has been tremendous — even beyond our expectations. At Waller Funeral Home we offer the following pre-arrangement plans:
(1) payment in full, which seals costs at the time of payment
(2) a monthly payment plan to fit your budget, which seals costs at the time the plan is begun
(3) a no-cost record of personal wishes
Frequently family members gathered from distant places come to the funeral home and discuss plans for future needs. Then, when the need occurs, the delay waiting for family members to arrive is eliminated. Preliminary planning really helps! We are available at your convenience for a discussion of this type.
We are prepared to work with you to whatever extent you desire. Why not call use at 662-234-7971 now while you are thinking about it?
GRATEFUL MEMORIES
Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time or sorrow.
—Robert Louis Stevenson
IN MEMORIAM
We dedicate this issue of SEASONS to those who have died and whose families we have served from May 1, 1984 through August 8, 1984.
Mr. Charles Barnett Lampkin, Jr. 5-30-85
Mrs. Mary Belle Judge 5-31-85
Mrs. Joann Hollowell Stewart 5-31-85
Mrs. Janie Neal Henderson 6-2-85
Mr. William Burns Shaw 6-11-85
Mrs. Mary Lantrip Avent 6-13-85
Kimberly Nashae Little 6-13-85
Mrs. Lorene Tidwell Mills 6-13-85
Mrs. Clara Leigh Galloway Hodge 6-20-85
Miss Evelyn Ruth Henderson 6-20-85
Mr. Murry "Bully" Black 6-21-85
Mrs. Daisey Daniels White 6-21-85
Mr. Horace Upchurch 6-25-85
Mr. Alonzo M. Robertson 6-25-85
Mr. Charles Lee Terry 6-27-85
Mr. Gurvis 0. Sanders 6-29-85
Mrs. Ruby Vesta Crockett Snavely 6-30-85
Mrs. Thelma Conrad Sitzlar 7-2-85
Mrs. Elizabeth R. Vallatos 7-7-85
Mr. James Travis Caffey 7-11-85
Mrs. Esther Harwell Sharp 7-14-85
Mr. George 0. Hankins 7-14-85
Ms. Pamela Heard Stegall 7-14-85
Mr. E. L. "Bill" Christman 7-16-85
Mr. Dennis Ray Kelley 7-17-85
Mrs. Nina Murray Markette 7-19-85
Mrs. Lois Dill Waller 7-19-85
Mrs. Margie Henry Turner 7-23-85
James Neal Freeman 7-24-85
Mr. B. F. "Frank" Cooper 8-8-85
A BOOK SUGGESTION
Why Us? When Bad Things Happen to God’s People by Warren W. Wiersbe
Is there a reason for sorrow and pain? For uncounted ages, men have pondered the problem of seemingly senseless and unfair suffering. Many have either reached shallow conclusions or given up in despair, feeling that if God does exist, He doesn’t care or is powerless to intervene. In Why Us?Warren W. Wiersbe confronts man’s finite reasoning with eternal truth. Where other philosophic books have fallen short of finding hope, Why Us?reveals the Bible’s authoritative answers and encouraging promises. Warren Wiersbe offers faith-bolstering insight to help those who are hurting to handle their suffering in realistic and effective ways. Through a compassionate, pastoral approach, he shows that God uses our present suffering as a channel for ultimate blessing. Me that by trusting God’s direction of your life, you’ll find comfort for the past, peace for the present, and hope for the future.
Tis the human touch in this world that counts,
the touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more to the fainting heart,
Than shelter and bread and wine;
For shelter is gone when the night is o’er,
And bread lasts only a day,
But the touch of the hand,
And the sound of the voice
Sing on in the soul alway.
—Spencer Michael Free
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