Reece Funeral Home & Valley Chapel

Information may not be reliable

Going strong in Claiborne County for over 60 years, Reece Funeral Home is the only remaining local family-owned funeral home.
Established in New Tazewell during 1940s by Alvin D. Reece Sr., the Reece family was the first to build a new modern funeral home in Claiborne County. The current chapel was relocated at 6340 Cumberland Gap Parkway in Harrogate in 1983. Reece Funeral Home & Valley Chapel was the first funeral home in the Harrogate/Speedwell area. Four generations of the Reece family have graciously served the Tri-state community.
The late Alvin D. Reece and Bobbie Reece were both recognized by The Tennessee Funeral Directors Association for their 50 plus years of service. After growing up assisting in the family business A. Davis Reece II, began working full time in the business in 1967. With his wife, Rebecca they have continuously expanded the business over the last three decades.
A.D. Reece III (Davy) is vice president and a licensed funeral director since 1997. He earned his bachelors degree in psychology and has baccalaureate in gerontology from LMU and masters in counseling also from LMU. He is a compassionate and consoling professional with arranging funerals and assisting members of grieving families. Davys two year old son Alvin Davis Reece IV is a public relations apprentice in the making. He enjoys greeting and playing with the customers and their children. It appears that the Reece legacy will continue for many years into the future.
Reece Funeral Home and Valley Chapel is a full service funeral home and have accommodations for approximately 350 people. There is an onsite inventory of more than sixty caskets to select from while making arrangements. Recent improvements include a website: www.reecefh.com which offers easily accessible online obituaries and condolences book for each family, pre-planning information, monument and casket selections. The 156,000 square foot parking lot has been resurfaced offering ample parking. An impressive lighting system in the chapel and selection rooms has been installed for better ambiance. They are planning to install a state of the arts digital music system with virtually limitless musical selections. Free video tributes for the deceased member of each family will be on the horizon very soon.

According to Davy, A major cornerstone with our longevity of success has been a dedicated and loyal staff with more than a century of combined experience within our business. We provide professional and compassionate service during a familys most difficult time. We have dedicated staff members Jan McKinney and Sam Gibson working with us for years. They take great pride in their work and service within the community.
Davy believes that their business benefits significantly from being family owned and operated. All the other funeral homes in the county are owned by large corporations, he said. At Reece Funeral Home you are not just a number; you are respected customer with specific needs during a very difficult time. We understand the emotional impact of losing a loved along with the financial costs is often overwhelming for many families averaging around $6,500. Each family is different and they have their own special needs and wishes for their loved ones, we attempt to fully accommodate each family and their requests without a bunch of red tape and expense.

When large corporations come into a community and monopolize the family owned funeral homes, this typically drives up funeral prices for the customers because of less competition he said. We are here to serve the families during their time of need and make a fair and reasonable living. We are not concerned with stockholders equity and, stock prices and valuations. Many large funeral home corporations have lost so much of their market valuations recently that their pre-arrange funerals could be severely jeopardized. Reece Funeral Home offers various insured pre-need plans some as generous as three years same-as-cash earning up to 4.5 percent. Often pre-need plans are a solid solution to mitigate the financial costs when arranging for the future; just make sure they are going to survive to be around to honor their contract. We will gladly be your trusted partner and advisor and navigate you through these troubling waters.

According to Davy, Our long range plan is to remain Claiborne Countys only family owned and operated funeral home, and to continue to provide the best services with the best value. Our business philosophy is simple, - Our Family Serving Your Family.
We treat people like we want to be treated, with dedicated Christian service and to continue our family tradition, added his father, Davis.

Reece Funeral Home and Valley Chapel is located at 6340 Cumberland Gap Parkway. The Reece family and their staff are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information call 423-869-3651, 423-626-4249 or 800-496-6281.
*Reprinted with permissionof Marisa Anders- Claiborne Progress.