About Us

Originally known as J.B. Rogers and Company, Rogers Funeral Home was founded by Jesse Burr Rogers in early 1925.

Burr Rogers graduated from the Cincinnati College of Embalming in 1916, and before the time of his military service in World War I, had worked for an undertaking establishment in Manchester, Tennessee. When he returned to his former employer after the war, he was assured that he could be reinstated to his previous position. Finding that a man with a wife and family had filled the post in his absence, and being unmarried at the time, Burr was unwilling to take a job from a man with a family to support. Since Burr was not married at the time, he chose not to take that man's job and decided to return to the Cincinnati College of Embalming for a post-graduate course in funeral service, and then look elsewhere for employment. 

He came to South Pittsburg in 1920, and began working for Mr. Chris Baumgartner in January of 1921. Mr. Baumgartner, a native of Berne, Switzerland, had come to South Pittsburg from Beersheba Springs, Tennessee, in 1870, and in 1882 he opened a livery and undertaking business of his own. In 1896, he bought the undertaking business of N.C. Marcell, which consisted of a few coffins, a pair of lowering straps, and a set of stools to place coffins on. Soon afterward, he moved to Cedar Avenue and added hearses and carriages to his equipment and tried to keep pace with the profession in his day. In 1918, Mr. Baumgartner gave the people of South Pittsburg their first motor-driven hearse. 

In 1925, J.B. Rogers purchased the business and goodwill of Mr. Baumgartner. At the beginning of J.B. Rogers & Company's operation, the business was located at 219 Cedar Avenue, which was the location of Mr. Baumgartner's business. It was a two-story store building, with furniture, stoves, heaters, and other household goods taking up most of the sales floor. The funeral establishment, such as it was, was in the rear of the store building, and consisted of a storage room for coffins and caskets, a room for other funeral equipment, and a small embalming room.

In those days, most of the embalming was done in the home of the deceased person or his family. Coffin selection was based on the person's height, and most people came in a wagon with a string to show how long the coffin or casket should be, and then took the selected coffin or casket home themselves. In many cases, the neighbors would have bathed and dressed the body, and they themselves would then place the body in the casket before burial. Other times, and more and more often as time went by, the family would engage Burr Rogers to come to the home and embalm the body and prepare it for burial, and to conduct the funeral services from the home or the church and the graveside. 

In 1938, the building at 219 Cedar Avenue was destroyed by fire, and J.B. Rogers moved the business to a store building at 235 Cedar Avenue. Originally the furniture and funeral businesses occupied the first floor of the building, but later the funeral home was moved to the second floor, and the furniture business was on the first floor. J.B.'s son, Marvin joined his father in business in 1947. In 1950, in keeping with their desires to provide the very best service, they built a new building at the corner of 4th Street and Laurel Avenue to house Rogers Funeral Home. It was the first building in the Sequatchie Valley built to be a funeral home, and it is still the location of our South Pittsburg Chapel.

In 1962, after the death of Mr. James R. Braden, Rogers Funeral Home purchased the goodwill and assets of Braden Funeral Home in Jasper, Tennessee, and began construction of a new building on 5th Street in Jasper. Rogers Funeral Home's Jasper Chapel opened in early 1963 and was renovated and enlarged in 1981, nearly doubling its former size.

In 1977, Jim Rogers joined the family business working alongside his father until Marvin's unexpected death in June of 1993. In January of 2000, Jim's daughter, Meegan Rogers Burton joined the family business. She is the fourth generation of the Rogers family to serve the communities of the Sequatchie Valley as a licensed funeral director and embalmer, continuing the traditions begun by her great-grandfather. 

Rogers Funeral Home has provided families in the Sequatchie Valley with dignified, compassionate, and professional services for nearly 100 years. The Rogers family were pioneers in funeral service to our area, giving South Pittsburg and the Sequatchie Valley their first ambulance service in 1926, the first facility built to be a funeral home, and continuing to add the necessary services and equipment to, in the words of J.B. Rogers, provide the families we serve the "best possible service in their hour of need." 

Those words have guided J.B., Marvin, Jim, and Meegan in their service to the families of the Sequatchie Valley. This dedication grew Rogers Funeral Home into one of the most professional and well respected funeral homes operating in Tennessee. 

In 2018, the Rogers family partnered with Josh Jennings and Ralph "Bim" Mosier, Jr., both licensed funeral directors and embalmers with years of experience. Josh and Ralph, are dedicated helping Jim and Meegan honor the legacy of J.B. Rogers - helping ensure that the tradition of quality, professional care families have come to expect from the family and staff of Rogers Funeral Home will continue for many more generations to come.