Fountain Plans Open House

Fountain Funeral Home held an open house when it opened in December 1973, and the Avon Park business will be doing the same thing on Nov. 29 - nearly 35 years later.

Located at 507 U.S. 27 N., Fountain is planning an open house from 4 - 7 p.m. that Saturday to mark its 35th anniversary. The event is open to the public. Cake and punch will be offered.

The open house is a "less intimidating way" to see what is there, according to Julia Miller, Fountain's funeral director.

"People can come in at a non-threatening time," Miller said. "They are not coming to make arrangements."

His funeral home and the industry have changed since James Fountain started the business. Fountain, who was a funeral director for nearly 40 years, died in 2005. His wife, Cynthia, now owns the business.

The funeral home has been painted and recarpeted. Miller said. The electric blue shag carpet in the family room adjacent to the chapel is gone. It has been replaced by a forest green carpet. More wood paneling has been added in the chapel.

The casket room has been changed to a merchandise area. On display are caskets, urns, cremation containers and corner pieces of caskets, that can be removed and used as keepsakes. They include a dove, angel, eagle and a cross.

A new item is called a Thumbie. A thumb print of the person who has died is taken and made into a necklace.

Miller said something similar can be done with the nose or paw of an animal.

There are several funeral homes in Highlands County that have been in business for at least 25 years. Personalized service and being involved in the community are two factors that have led to their longevity.

"We are all family owned and operated," Miller said. "We all care about the families we serve and that allows us to continue to do what we do. We give families the things they need."

Dowden Funeral Home has also been in business for 35 years. While Fountain opened late in 1973, Tyrone Dowden started the business from scratch in February of that year.

"Personal service is the key," Dowden said. "I see every family."

Dowden recalled one time when he had flown to Iowa on a Wednesday. He was notified about the death of a family member of a good friend, and he returned to Sebring the next day.

"If something happens, my plans change," Dowden said.

Jack Stephenson opened a funeral home in 1927 in Sebring. His son, Hap, said Jack was a traveling embalmer in Georgia who arrived in Sebring in 1924 and worked from the back of a hardware store downtown.

A two-story house in Avon Park served as Stephenson's second location.

"We give a lot more personalized service," Hap Stephenson said. "We can make our own decisions and are not constrained by corporate policies."

"We have got the ability to adjust and adapt," said Craig Nelson, funeral director at Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home.

Terrill Morris of Morris Funeral Chapel has been in the business in Sebring since 1980.

The chapel has been at the same location, at the corner of Pine and Commerce, since E.A. Warren opened Warren Funeral Home in 1950. The name was Warren-Morris for a while until it became Morris Funeral Chapel about 1993.

"We are locally owned and operated," Morris said. "We get involved in the community and become a part of the community."

Swann Mortuary has been in business on Lemon Avenue in Sebring since 1983.