Edward C. Tate, 58, of West Point, VA, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, December 6, 2023. After high school, Eddie went into the Military where he served…
The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first - and it will probably not be the last - challenge endured by the funeral home. Jarnigan & Son is the only Black-owned business operating today to survive urban removal, a series of construction projects from 1959-74 that saw Black homes, churches and storefronts razed to make room for the Knoxville Civic Coliseum and the James White Parkway interstate loop. The impact of the upheaval is still being reckoned with today.
Bourne, 74 and president of Jarnigan & Son for four decades, has been to more burials than he can count. He attributes the business’ longevity to its guiding principles: treating everyone with dignity, giving back to the community and never turning anyone away.