GOING BACK IN TIME

Our History

Vaughan History

The "Vaughan Tradition" began in the early years of the last century when Newton A. Vaughan assumed ownership of a small furniture and "undertaking" business in Adelphi, Ohio. His youngest son, Stanley N. Vaughan, Sr., came to Parkersburg in 1924 and quickly recognized the need for a funeral service unique to the community. In 1930, Stanley, Sr. and his wife, Rowena, opened Vaughan Funeral Home. They dedicated their lives to providing that unique service for those discerning families that preferred a funeral home known for extreme standards of attention to detail, professional embalming skills, and unsurpassed care in fulfilling the family's wishes, standards that, over the decades, others have tried to imitate. In 1933, Stanley, Sr. purchased the Philip Neal estate at 1010 Murdoch Avenue and moved the funeral business to that location. Since our founding, we've been known for our high standards of trust, tradition, and fair prices.

Stanley, Sr.'s son, Stanley, Jr., spent his teen years assisting at the funeral home, and in 1946, after completing his military service, became a full-time active member of the family funeral home. In 1972, Stanley, Jr. and his wife, the former Kathleen West, purchased the funeral home from his parents and continued "the Vaughan Tradition" until their retirement in the 1990s.

Kimes History

In 1918, Kimes Funeral Home opened its doors to serve the public. The facility was located in Belleville, West Virginia and was owned and operated by Herschel Kimes Sr. and Oma Smith Kimes.

In 1931, a decision was made to relocate the funeral home to Pike Street in South Parkersburg, West Virginia. Kimes Funeral Home operated from the Pike Street location for seven years until it was moved to its current location, 521 Fifth Street. This move took place on February 4th, the birthday of Mr. Kimes, Sr.

Mr. and Mrs. Kimes retired in 1966 after 48 years of service to the families of Wood and Jackson counties and surrounding areas. After their retirement, the funeral establishment went under the supervision of Herschel Kimes, Jr. and Glen E. Kimes (sons of Mr. & Mrs. Kimes Sr.). The two sons operated together until the retirement of Herschel Jr. in 1980. Since his retirement, he has been active as the owner of Skate Country in South Parkersburg. Glen E. Kimes continued to operate the Fifth Street location with the assistance of two of his sons, David A. Kimes and Larry G. Kimes.

In 1987, the Ogdin Funeral Home located at 1640 St. Mary's Avenue, Parkersburg, West Virginia became part of the Kimes Family of funeral service. The facility, which had been operated by Oran Ogdin and Howard Hammett, was acquired shortly after the death of Mr. Ogdin.

In 1990, David A. Kimes and Larry G. Kimes purchased all of the Kimes family funeral properties from their father, Glen E. Kimes who decided to semi-retire. At the time Glen was still active in the family business on a limited basis.

Since the beginning in 1918, the Kimes family of funeral service has striven to meet the needs of the families they serve, by the purchase of additional properties for growth or expansion of the simpler things to make a family's loss more bearable.

From 1966, the Fifth Street location has underwent numerous remodeling projects and additions to stay abreast with changing times and to better meet the needs of the families.

In May 1999, the 100 year old structure that housed the Kimes Funeral Home was demolished. A ground breaking ceremony was held on July 13, 1999 at the same location to commemorate the building of the new $1.2 million facility. On June 12, 2000, after eleven months of construction, the new Kimes Funeral Home proudly opened its doors to compassionately serve families during their time of loss.

It was at this time that the Kimes Funeral Home and Ogdin-Kimes Funeral Home were combined together in the new facility.

In May of 2004, a new corporation named Kimes Family Services was formed and the name of the establishment was changed to Kimes Funeral Home & Cremation Services to encompass the increasing public interest in cremation. Unfortunately In March 2015 David passed away suddenly. Leaving Kathy and Bradley to carry on the tradition of service David established.