Former owner of Youngʼs Funeral Directors dies at 84

Jerry Young, who owned and operated Young’s Funeral Directors for nearly 40 years, died Tuesday at the age of 84.

Young, who was a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Korean War, purchased the site of Young’s Funeral Directors in 1960, after working for the previous owners since 1952.

According to previous News-Times reports, Young entered the funeral service industry as a form of religious ministry when he did not have a means of paying for the college education that would allow him to become a pastor. His religious devotion did not wane in the remaining years - Young was a longtime member of First Christian Church, where he served as a deacon and elder.

Young spent three years remodeling the property and was particularly proud of the construction of a separate chapel to replace the 100-seat in-house chapel previously used. The separate chapel was completed in 1967.

In 1994, Young sold the funeral home to national conglomerates the Hamilton Group, the Keystone Group and Dignity Memorial or Service Corps International, which continues to own and operate the facility at 508 Champagnolle Road.

In a News-Times article published in 2013, Young said a frequently encountered problem in the funeral industry is many people don’t want to think ahead to their own deaths or the deaths of any loved ones.

“People do not want to think of death,” he said. “You don’t want to think about making arrangements for mother and dad either. … They just don’t want to accept that to start with.”

Young was an active member of both the local community and the funeral service industry. In 2013, he was recognized by the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association with the Hall of Fame Award. He was one of several founders of the Selected Funeral and Life Insurance Company and served on the boards of the Arkansas Burial Board, the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce, the El Dorado Rotary Club and the Exchange Bank and Trust, now known as Regions Bank. He also served as chair of the El Dorado-Union County Ambulance Commission for 25 years.

In 1979, Young was voted Mortician of the South and was presented the “MOTS” Award at the Southern Morticians meeting. In 1981 and 1982, he received the “Pursuit of Excellence” Award from the National Funeral Directors Association. Young also remained active in the Boy Scouts of America, of which he was an assistant scout master, and was presented with a leadership award in 1983.

A visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. today at Young’s Funeral Directors. A celebration of life will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at Young’s Chapel.