History

In 1911, a house was built at 303 South Madison Street in Madisonville by Chris Connor and his family. The property was passed down to Connor's daughter and son-in-law, Hope and G. B. Randolph, and they lived in the house until 1938. At that time, J. I. Riddle of Mexia purchased the funeral business of Will Hollis in Madisonville, as an addition to his other funeral homes in the area, and the Randolphs leased their building to him for the establishment of this new business.

Mr. Riddle sent Tom Ferguson, who had been managing one of Riddle's funeral homes in Normangee, and his wife, Margaret, to operate the new business, which was now named Riddle Funeral Home of Madisonville. In 1958, Tom and Margaret bought the property from the Randolphs, made renovations to the building, including the addition of a new chapel, and continued leasing the facilities to Mr. Riddle. In 1968, the Fergusons purchased the funeral home from Riddle and changed the name to Ferguson Funeral Home.

On January 1, 1983, the Fergusons sold their business to Billy and Carol Walters, who were ready to expand their services into Madison County after nearly five years of operating their funeral home in Centerville. The funeral home's name was then changed to Madisonville Funeral Home. Over the next decade, the Walters, aided by Carol's sister and brother-in-law, Nancy and David Haas, who moved to Madisonville in 1987 and took up residence in and management of the funeral home, continued to build up the funeral business and gain the respect and trust of the community.

In 1995, an opportunity became available to the Walters to further expand their business and bring a new, modern funeral home facility to the Madisonville community. They were able to purchase a tract of land on the corner of Hwy 21 and North Short Street, east of downtown Madisonville, and there the Walters built their new facility, which included a bigger chapel and parking lot than the previous building, along with more updated amenities.

Ten years later, Madisonville Funeral Home is still in the Hwy 21 location, and the Walters family is still serving the community of Madisonville with the same caring and dedication that we began with all those years ago.

On October 20, 1938, Floyd Green and his wife, Earcel, moved to Centerville, from Groesbeck, where he had been managing a funeral home. Mr. Green took over the management of the newly established Burleson Funeral Home, owned by Oliver Burleson. Mr. Burleson also owned Burleson Furniture Store, and for several years both businesses were run out of the same building in downtown Centerville.

In 1949, the Greens left Burleson's and went into business for themselves (both the funeral and the furniture business). They purchased the home of Mrs. Wilma McEachern on Hwy 75 South, remodeled the building to use as a place to live, and also established a funeral home there, which they called Green Funeral Home. In 1954, Mr. and Mrs. Green purchased the funeral and furniture businesses of Oliver Burleson from his daughter. The Greens operated their funeral home throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s, making further improvements to their facilities, which included adding a chapel in the late 1950s to allow funeral services to be held in the funeral home, instead of only in local churches. The couple lived in the funeral home until they built a home for themselves in 1973. In March of 1978, the Greens sold their funeral home to Billy and Carol Walters. Floyd and Earcel continued to own and operate Green Furniture Store until February of 1979, when they sold that business and retired.

When the Walters took over Green Funeral Home, Billy Walters had already been involved in the funeral business for many years. He worked for Davis-Morris Funeral.

Home in Brownwood while in college, and then worked for Hillier Funeral Home in Bryan for several years. Mr. Walters was working in Madisonville when Mr. and Mrs. Green contacted him about their interest in selling their funeral home. The funeral home has had several name changes over the years since the Walters took ownership. The funeral home remained Green Funeral Home for many years after the sale, then the name was changed to Green-Walters Funeral Home to include the new owners. In recent years, Green was removed from the name, and at the present time, the business is called Walters Funeral Home.

In an effort to best serve the city of Centerville and the surrounding communities, the Walters have made several renovations to the funeral home facility, and continue to explore other improvements. The first major renovation happened around 1988, when the Green's old living quarters were remodeled to add office space to the funeral home. Then a decade later, the facility received a total facelift, the most important element of which was a brand new chapel, so that the resulting facility hardly resembles the old.

In 2015, the Walters family will have served and been a part of the Centerville community for 37 years. Much can change in so many years, but our commitment to and concern for the families that come to us remain the same.

Since becoming a part of the Madison and Leon County areas many years ago, the Walters Family has been dedicated to extending our caring and compassionate service to every community possible, while maintaining the comfortable and personable atmosphere families have come to expect from us.

We recognized that the city of Buffalo was growing and the people in that community would benefit from having another choice when in need of the services of a funeral home, so we began to look for an opportunity to extend our services into the area. Walters Family Funeral Homes added the newest facility to the family in the year 2000, turning a former church building that is located on Humphreys Street into a full-service funeral home. This facility was named Buffalo Funeral Home and was remodeled in a Southwestern style to provide modern accommodations to the families of the Buffalo area.

Along with the facility, we welcomed new individuals into our family of dedicated staff. Mary Ann Howard is the manager of Buffalo Funeral Home, and both she and her husband, Denny, because of their longtime residence in Buffalo and active involvement in the community, bring a special knowledge of and affinity for the people we are now able to serve.

With each passing year since we brought our services to Buffalo, our business has grown, as more and more people come to know our reputation for knowledgeable and friendly service. We hope to continue that growth well into the future.