Story Archive

Hamburger, Fries, and Last Respects

Ryan Bernard, owner of R. Bernard Funeral Services, has been innovating the Memphis, Tenn., funeral industry. “Being in Memphis, we are surrounded by a lot of big-name funeral homes that have been around for 100 years,” he said. “I needed something unique to make me stand apart.” He has offered live streaming of funeral services, and now he’s bought an old bank in Orange Mound, and is using the bank’s drive-thru window — for convenient visitation service. “It helps out those that lack mobility, those who don’t feel like the hassle of parking cars and getting out or those who are scared to come into a funeral home,” Bernard said. “A lot of funeral homes creep people out.” The reaction has been mixed but mostly positive, he says. “I am 41 years old. I am not out just to market to the grandmas and grandpas, I am trying to get the millennials and the baby boomers too.” (MS/Memphis Commercial Appeal) ...Because everyone will need his services someday.