The History of Kilpatrick Funeral Homes
Generations of Serving
The Kilpatrick tradition of funeral service began in Farmerville in 1927 in the modest home of Edgar Noel ("E.N.") Kilpatrick and his new bride, Effie Hicks.
E.N. had been teaching school, but to make ends meet, he began carrying the mail in the mornings, leaving Effie to serve as a funeral director until he returned home in the evenings.
"Kil [as she affectionately called E.N.] still had his mail route in those days, and he often returned home late in the afternoon. I disliked seeing a grieving family kept waiting, so I decided to expand my knowledge. I studied for three years and then passed the State Board Exam. Being a licensed funeral director and embalmer enabled me to be of much greater service to the community," remembered Effie in a 1984 interview. Effie gained the distinction of becoming one of Louisiana's first women embalmers and soon became a mother to three children.
In 1935, the Kilpatrick tradition of funeral service expanded to Bernice. Three years later, E.N. and Effie opened a third funeral home in Ruston.
The year 1944 brought tragedy to many American families, as the lives of thousands of young men became entangled in a World War. Tragedy did not spare the Kilpatrick family, for on Thanksgiving Day, E.N. suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and his two young sons, K.D. and Tex, were forced to grow up quickly. E.N. continued to direct the operations of the funeral homes, though he was partially paralyzed, until his death in 1954.
"The stroke left my father an invalid, although he was to live for ten more years. Due to his paralysis, I was forced to become a man overnight. It was during the war, and there were no adult men to help us. So, as a teenager, I joined my mother in rearing my sister and brother, and in keeping our business together," K.D. remembers.
Tex graduated from high school at the age of fifteen, and then from LSU with a degree in chemistry. He was accepted by medical school, but E.N.'s health took a turn for the worse, and shortly thereafter, Tex and K.D. purchased the funeral home business from their father.
In the 1950's, the two brothers opened a fourth funeral home in a residence on Cypress Street in West Monroe. "I was only twenty years old, so I had to be emancipated before I could manage the West Monroe funeral home," Tex remembers. "We owned a small monument company, conducted funerals, and drove ambulances. It was a twenty-four hour operation."
Several years later, the brothers purchased an insurance charter and founded Central American Life Insurance Company on North Seventh Street in West Monroe. Over the next fifty years, Central American Life Insurance Company would grow to become the largest family-owned life insurance company in Northeast Louisiana today.
In 1977, Tex and K.D. opened a fifth funeral home in Monroe. "If Kil could see our [business now], he'd be so proud. It . . . exceeds anything that he and I imagined in 1928..." said Effie in a 1984 interview.
On May 8, 1993, Effie passed away after a brief illness at the age of 92. She was survived by her two sons, a daughter, 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. In 2001, K.D. retired from the funeral business, and today, Tex operates all five funeral home locations, with the assistance of his daughter Laura Kilpatrick Marchelos, a licensed funeral director.