Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors & Cremation Memorial Center

Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors & Cremation Memorial Center, located at 125 South Church Street in Hendersonville, North Carolina, was once one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in the area. Established in 1903 when Thomas Shepherd began selling coffins, it evolved into a full-service funeral home and crematory serving the local community for over a century. According to the funeralocity.com listing, the business offered a range of services including traditional full-service burial ($7,945), full-service cremation ($5,820), affordable burial ($6,100), and direct cremation ($2,095). The facility included both a funeral home and a crematory, and it was family-operated by Thomas R. Shepherd and his wife Melody H. Shepherd.

However, the business encountered serious regulatory challenges in its later years. In November 2021, the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service revoked the license of Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors and its associated crematory. Additionally, the Board revoked the funeral director license of Thomas R. Shepherd and the crematory manager permit of Melody H. Shepherd, imposing a five-year ban on reapplying for licensure. The revocation followed a hearing that confirmed numerous violations of state regulations, including failure to timely cremate a decedent, failure to file death certificates within the required five-day period, allowing unlicensed employees to meet with families and make funeral arrangements, and failure to provide the Board with requested records. The Board also found that the crematory facility was in a state of disrepair and that unlicensed employees had performed cremations on multiple occasions. Preneed contract funds were not properly deposited into trust accounts, and consumers filed complaints about overcharges, missing refunds, and lack of proper documentation.

The funeral home's troubles date back to at least 2018 when a consent order stayed a license suspension, but the business failed to comply with terms. In June 2020, the state suspended the funeral home's license and ordered it closed. The November 2021 hearing resulted in the revocation of all permits. The business's phone number is now out of service, and the location at 125 South Church Street stands locked and empty. As of the most recent Google Maps data, the business is unclaimed and has a low rating of 2.3 based on 43 reviews. While Thos. Shepherd & Son once provided funeral and cremation services to Hendersonville families for generations, significant regulatory failures and consumer complaints led to its permanent closure. The North Carolina Board of Funeral Service has since transferred all preneed contract files for audit and consumer protection. The business is no longer operating, and no successor funeral home under the same ownership has been established at that address.