Vicksburg’s Frank J. Fisher Funeral Home will not change its name or fire current employees as a result of its sale from a Texas corporation to a firm based in Bay Springs, the new owner said.

“We certainly don’t intend to change the name, and we hope to add additional Warren County employees,” said John Pearce, manager of South Mississippi Funeral Services, LLC.  “It’s an old funeral home with a great tradition, and we plan to provide great service at the most reasonable prices possible and honor the traditions of the funeral home.”

South Mississippi Funeral Services purchased Fisher —along with funeral homes in Ellisville and McComb—last week from Houston, Texas-based Service Corp. International. 

Companies controlled by Pearce and his wife, Charlotte, own funeral homes in 17 Mississippi cities, mostly in the southern part of the state.   

Pearce’s company is the third to own Fisher since 1995, when local funeral director Charles Riles sold it to a Canadian corporation. That firm later filed for bankruptcy, and its descendant sold Fisher and nearly 600 other American funeral homes to SCI in 2007. 

The oldest of the seven funeral homes that serve Vicksburg, the business that became Fisher was founded in the mid-19th century by undertaker John Q. Arnold and later acquired by Frank Fisher, an employee of Arnold. Today, it is the only local funeral home with non-local owners. 

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Contact Ben Bryant at bbryant@vicksburgpost.com