Martin-Wilson Funeral Home has new location, corner of Beech and Indiana

TOP PHOTO: The new Martin-Wilson Funeral Home is a work in progress at 305 East Beech Street.

By Jason Freeman

LAFOLLETTE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF) – For more than 60 years, Martin-Wilson Funeral Home on West Central Avenue has been committed to serving the families that have called upon its service.  That same commitment to serving you and your family continues today.  However, we have a new location from which to serve you, 305 East Beech Street.

Jason, Jessica, Lauren, Bentley, Maddox, and Tylee, the Freeman family.

Take Stop Light 9 and go south to the corner of Beech and Indiana.  As we transition, we will update you with our progress on Facebook and over WLAF.  All pre-arrangements made at our previous location will always be honored at the new Martin-Wilson Funeral home where your pre-arrangement is safe with our staff and funeral home. 

From Paul Martin to Claude Wilson to Cliff Baird to Jason Freeman and the Freeman Family, the legacy will continue for generations to come. In June of 1962, Paul Martin started Martin Funeral Home on West Central Avenue out the home place of J.A. Cecil.  In November 1992, Carriage Services, based out of Houston, Texas, purchased the funeral home from the Martin family and tore down the home place and built new additions on the grounds.

Claude Wilson, longtime funeral director of Martin Funeral Home, became the manager of the funeral home and Carriage was so impressed with Claude, they placed his last name on the funeral home to become known as Martin-Wilson Funeral Home. In June of 2002, Claude saw potential in a 16-year-old young man by the name of Jason Freeman and hired him as a funeral assistant. Fast forward 14 years, this same young man was able to purchase the Martin-Wilson Funeral Home business only from Carriage Services and make the funeral home family owned and operated.

Jason Freeman at age 16 at Martin-Wilson Funeral Home.

In the process of us purchasing the business part, a company based out of Tallahassee, Florida, bought the property and building from Carriage Services and leased the property and building to the Freeman Family for the last seven years. As the rising rental cost has come about and unreasonable purchase price for the property, the Freeman Family made the decision to move Martin-Wilson Funeral Home from its current location to a new location, 305 East Beech Street.

The front of the building is about 90% complete as of Wednesday, according to Freeman.

Our family and great staff plan on being here to serve your family for generations to come from the new corner of Beech and Indiana facility. Over the next few weeks, we will see the transition and renovation of our new venue come about. Our staff is very excited about this new beginning in serving all the families that continue to place their trust in Martin-Wilson Funeral Home. Nothing will change in the process of this move besides our location.

Our staff will continue to be the same great staff that it has been for many years, and we will continue to offer the lowest cost of funerals and cremations. We have been in contact with several churches in the area and have been granted access to use their sanctuaries for funerals and services while our new chapel is being renovated. Our new facility will be a modern 5,000 square foot building with the same size chapel as our former facility, a spacious foyer and arrangement room, and large and monitored parking area with more than 45 on-site parking spots. We are hoping to have the exterior of the building, parking lot and offices completed by Monday, December 4^th.  Our goal is for our chapel to be ready by Sunday, December 10, 2023, or before. The final part of the interior renovation, we hope, will be completed by February 1, 2024.

“They are painting offices and the foyer tomorrow (Thursday),” added Freeman. This is a photo from last week.

We will be keeping you updated on our progress with pictures being posted to our funeral home Facebook page. All pre-arrangements made with our funeral home at our previous location will always be honored at our new facility and location. Your pre-arrangement is safe with our staff and funeral home.

Our new facility will be located at 305 East Beech St. in LaFollette, the corner of Beech and Indiana.  (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 11/30/2023-6AM-PAID AD)