Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HJR0178 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
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2	2	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
3	3
4	4	HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 178
5	5	By Gant
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7	7
8	8	HJR0178
9	9	003069
10	10	- 1 -
11	11
12	12	A RESOLUTION to honor and commend Peebles Funeral Home.
13	13
14	14	WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly are pleased to recognize those
15	15	long-standing businesses that have provided outstanding service to the citizens of their
16	16	community; and
17	17	WHEREAS, one such business is the family-owned Peebles Funeral Home, which has
18	18	stood as a pillar of respectful concern for those who have lost family, friends, and loved ones in
19	19	West Tennessee since 1884; and
20	20	WHEREAS, Peebles Funeral Home takes pride in its roots, with a history stretching back
21	21	to the first undertaker in Fayette County, Colonel Simon H. Walker, a cabinetmaker by trade
22	22	who started making coffins in Somerville in 1826; and
23	23	WHEREAS, Colonel Walker was known as an honest businessman and served in the
24	24	undertaking business with his stepson, Thomas E.A. Fraser; after Colonel Walker's death in
25	25	1862, Mr. Fraser inherited the undertaking business from his stepfather; and
26	26	WHEREAS, the funeral business experienced a big change in the 1850s, as small
27	27	cabinetmaking and woodworking shops that employed carpenters and craftsmen to make wood
28	28	coffins had to adjust to accommodate an alternative kind of coffin made by cast-iron stove
29	29	manufacturers that made metallic cases for burials; and
30	30	WHEREAS, Thomas E.A. Fraser continued to manufacture wood coffins, as well as
31	31	providing metallic coffins, as a sole proprietor until 1870, at which time he collaborated with
32	32	another Fayette County undertaker, William W. Greenway, until 1872; and
33	33	WHEREAS, in 1878, at the age of fifty-nine, Stewart Freeman Woodruff became an
34	34	undertaker; a decade later, his nephew D. Reddick Cleaves, a carpenter, purchased the
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36	36
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39	39	undertaking business in Mason, while Mr. Woodruff continued his undertaking business in
40	40	Somerville; and
41	41	WHEREAS, after Mr. Woodruff's death in 1895, his daughter, Mary Woodruff Wetzler,
42	42	inherited her father's undertaking business and its stock of coffins, materials, hearses, and
43	43	horses; Mrs. Wetzler was married to John Wetzler, who had worked with and learned the
44	44	undertaking business from his father-in-law; and
45	45	WHEREAS, John Wetzler, who had graduated from the Oriental School of Embalming in
46	46	Boston, Massachusetts, in 1892, established the first funeral home in Fayette County; John and
47	47	Mary Wetzler's son, John Howard Wetzler, graduated from the Gupton-Jones School of
48	48	Embalming in Nashville on July 6, 1920, and continued operating the family business until the
49	49	1950s; and
50	50	WHEREAS, as Fayette County continued to grow, so did the funeral business; Henry F.
51	51	Bryant owned and operated Bryant Funeral Home in Moscow from 1946 to 1949, while John
52	52	Wilson Simmons, owner of Simmons Funeral Home, also operated in Moscow in 1947; and
53	53	WHEREAS, Harry Crawford began operating Crawford Funeral Home in Somerville in
54	54	1951 and was joined by Herbert Wright in 1959; and
55	55	WHEREAS, Crawford Funeral Home and Simmons Funeral Home directed until January
56	56	1972, at which time they were purchased by Thomas Gordon Peebles and consolidated into
57	57	Fayette County Funeral Home in February 1973; and
58	58	WHEREAS, the present Peebles Fayette County Funeral Homes and Cremation Center
59	59	- Main Chapel, located at 18020 Highway 64 in Somerville, was built in 1974; it was the first and
60	60	only full-service funeral home facility built specifically for a funeral home in Fayette County, and
61	61	it is still being utilized today; and
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66	66	WHEREAS, in anticipation of changes in the funeral industry, the Peebles Cremation
67	67	Center was built in 2003; the West Chapel, cremation center, and cemetery are all located on
68	68	the same property; and
69	69	WHEREAS, on May 30, 2014, Michael and Jennifer Tilghman were blessed with an
70	70	opportunity to purchase the funeral homes, cemetery, cremation center, and pet business; prior
71	71	to purchasing the business, Michael Tilghman had worked with Mr. and Mrs. Peebles for a
72	72	period of five years; and
73	73	WHEREAS, since 1884, Peebles Funeral Home has rendered sterling service to the
74	74	good people of West Tennessee, and it is wholly fitting that we honor this exemplary Tennessee
75	75	institution; now, therefore,
76	76	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
77	77	FOURTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
78	78	CONCURRING, that we honor and commend Peebles Funeral Home upon providing 141 years
79	79	of service to its community and applaud the long-standing commitment to excellence and
80	80	dedication exhibited by its owners and employees.
81	81	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared
82	82	for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy and upon proper request made to
83	83	the appropriate clerk, the language appearing immediately following the State seal appear
84	84	without House or Senate designation.