Smith Family Funeral Homes acquires LR Funeral Home
Smith Family Funeral Homes is proud to announce the opening of its newest Central Arkansas location in Little Rock. Smith Family Funeral Homes President Jeff Smith recently acquired Little Rock Funeral Home from fourth-generation funeral director and owner Brad Leggett.
“The acquisition of Little Rock Funeral Home means more than just serving all of Central Arkansas,” Smith said. “It’s also about merging two family legacies that have a rich history of serving Arkansans in their greatest time of need. I respect Brad Leggett and Little Rock Funeral Home more than any other funeral home in Arkansas. We’re honored to carry
their legacy forward.”
The acquisition of Little Rock Funeral Home also means Smith Family Funeral Homes will possess the only onsite crematories in Little Rock and North Little Rock. More importantly, however, the new location will allow Smith Family Funeral Homes to serve even more people in Central Arkansas, a role Smith has always taken very seriously.
“This isn’t just a job for us — it’s a calling,” Smith added.
Smith goes on to reflect, “It’s humbling to think about how my grandfather sold everything he had to open my family’s first funeral home 65 years ago. Despite the struggles he faced during the first 10 years of business, it grew into one of the largest funeral homes in North Little Rock and Little Rock. I wish he could be here to see how far we’ve come. We are so honored to help the Central Arkansas community and look forward to serving folks at Smith Little Rock Funeral Home.”
About Little Rock Funeral Home and the Leggett Family Legacy
Brad Leggett is a fourthgeneration funeral director. His family owned Griffinleggett Funeral Home for decades and upon his father’s retirement the Leggetts sold it in 1995 to an out-of-state corporation. Brad continued working at his family’s funeral home as director of preneed sales, but as time passed, things changed under the new ownership.
As Brad Leggett explains, “The out-of-state owners didn’t have the same understanding of Arkansans and I felt called open a familyowned funeral home once again. I wanted my friends in Little Rock to receive the gold standard of treatment that had become a hallmark of the Leggett family legacy.”
In 2005 Brad opened Little Rock Funeral Home and dedicated the last 15 years to making it the largest funeral home in Little Rock, a business known for its personal and caring service.
About Smith Family Funeral Homes
Founded in 1955, Smith Family Funeral Homes has been owned and operated by the Smith family for three generations. From humble roots they built their first location, North Little Rock Funeral Home, into the largest single location funeral home in Arkansas. Over the last decade the Smith’s have added locations as fellow funeral home owners have passed the torch, knowing that the Smith family will care for their funeral home and community as they did.
A reflection of its mission to celebrate life through unique and personalized services to foster healing, Smith Family Funeral Homes has been named among the top 1% of funeral homes for excellence in customer service for six consecutive years.
With six convenient locations spread throughout Central Arkansas (Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Benton, Beebe and Arkadelphia) they serve more families in Central Arkansas than any other funeral home and are a proud member of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), Veterans Funeral Care™, and Selected Independent Funeral Homes®. Visit Smithfamilycares.com to learn more and find the location nearest you.
The Convergence of the Smith and Leggett Family Legacies
For decades, the Leggett family was the leading funeral service in Little Rock while the Smith’s were industry leaders North of the river. The families have been bound by three generations of mutual admiration and respect for one another. Leggett says, “As I began thinking of retirement, Jeff Smith was the natural choice to carry forward my family’s legacy and that of Little Rock Funeral Home.” Smith added, “Brad and I are excited to bring our families rich legacies of service together to better serve all of Central Arkansas.”