Photo by Dave Boyd

Additions, renovations help Tetrick better serve families

By Greg Miller
STAR STAFF
gmiller@starhq.com

   Additions and renovations are helping Tetrick Funeral Home to better serve its families.
   The Chapel of Peace opened last April, according to Joe Taylor, manager/funeral director. "It has a separate music room and a stained-glass window and seats approximately 150 people," Taylor said. "There's a nice large foyer in the back of the chapel.
   "Riverside Chapel has been completely remodeled since last year. We added a new pulpit, pews, and music room and painted stained glass windows.
   "We've added a handicapped bathroom, and we've built a new public lounge, restrooms and baby changing station. We also bake fresh cookies daily for families and visitors."
   The Family Room, Fireside Room, and Garden Room were all renovated. A beautiful mural adorns the renovated Garden Room. Renovations included new carpet, paint, furniture, etc.
   The previously-added Cremation Room displays approximately 30 urns and urn vaults. The facility also has a cremation casket selection room.
   In 1961, the Riverside Chapel was added to the former residence from which Tetrick Funeral Home operated. The structure was one of the first formal church-type chapels to be added by any funeral home in the area. Two visitation/formal chapels are also now featured.
   The Rhododendron Chapel was opened in Roan Mountain in 1974. In 1984, Tetrick Funeral Home, Riverside Chapel, was extensively renovated and expanded, with the removal of the original structure in which the first funeral home started.
   Continuing education is an important concept at Tetrick Funeral Homes, according to Taylor. "We believe in continuing education and are constantly updating new OSHA regulations and FTC rules," he commented. "We attend seminars and district, state and national conventions. We conduct classes in high schools and encourage young people to enter the funeral profession. We speak in college classes and have both high school and college students tour our funeral homes."
   Memorial services, cremation, and immediate burial services are among the services Tetrick Funeral Home offers to the community. The funeral home offers a complete selection of high-quality monuments and bronze markers. Two years ago, Tetrick's added a candlelight memory service for families to remember loved ones during the holiday season.
   Also in 2000, Tetrick's added an Internet Web site, which gives a history of the funeral home, lists obituaries and allows visitors to post messages to families being served. Condolences can also be sent by e-mail to other families the funeral home is serving.
   According to Tetrick's Web site, North Funeral Home was founded in Elizabethton by W. H.S. North many years ago. In 1943, Donald W. Tetrick purchased the North firm upon moving to Elizabethton from Joplin, Mo. Don Tetrick and his father, the late Glen W. "Pappy" Tetrick, operated Tetrick Funeral Home together until Pappy Tetrick retired in 1960.
   In 1963, the Riverside Chapel was added to the former residence from which Tetrick Funeral Home operated. This structure was one of the first formal church-type chapels to be added by any funeral home in this region. In 1968, Richard C. Tetrick graduated from the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science and joined his father, Don, in the operation of Tetrick Funeral Home. In 1974, Don and Richard opened Tetrick's Rhododendron Chapel in Roan Mountain. Don Tetrick retired in 1981 and sold his interest in the business to Richard, but is still seen helping his friends around the community almost every day.
   Richard Tetrick remains active with the firm that bears his name, waiting on families and directing funerals on a regular basis. Richard and his wife, the former Norma Jean Green, are the parents of a son, Tyler, who is a senior at Wake Forest University. Richard is a member and past president of the Rotary Club of Elizabethton, is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and is a member and past president of the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers. The Tetricks are members of First United Methodist Church of Elizabethton, where Richard has served as Chairman of the Administrative Council.
   For more information, call 542-2232.