July 18, 2025
Established in 1925, the Delta Burial Corp. is commemorating its one hundredth yr in service to the Clarksdale, Mississippi neighborhood.
Delta Burial Corp., one of many oldest Black-owned funeral properties within the Mississippi Delta, is celebrating its one hundredth yr in enterprise.
Manuel Killibrew has held a number of roles within the firm. Killibrew as soon as assisted with insurance policies and collections and ultimately grew to become president of the company. Talking with Mississippi Immediately, he careworn the funeral residence’s dedication to servicing everybody, even these with little to no funds.
“We don’t flip anyone down … Some carry cash each month. Some don’t. However I do know we’re blessed,” Killibrew instructed Mississippi Immediately.
Delta Burial serves households in Quitman, Tunica, Coahoma, and Tallahatchie counties and operates a Nationwide Mortuary program for shoppers nationwide.
Based in 1925 by Silas Kelly and native Black farmers and entrepreneurs, the corporate has weathered many storms. Over its 100-years of operation, Delta Burial Corp. has confronted segregation, financial downfalls, and prejudice. Nevertheless, the Clarksdale, Mississippi, enterprise continues to present the neighborhood members inexpensive funeral companies with dignity and respect.
The corporate has deep ties to civil rights activism. Funeral-home leaders supplied shelter and help to organizers. In 1962, the then-president of Delta Burial, John Melchor, spent six months in jail after organizing a boycott.
The funeral residence’s origins hint again to a lynching in 1925. Unable to discover a funeral director keen to deal with the physique, Kelly led efforts to present the sufferer a correct burial. The gesture set the tone for the enterprise’s long-standing mission. Unable to safe conventional financial institution loans, the founders pooled sources to buy the funeral residence collectively. Immediately, the agency stays below Black possession.
Regardless of financial challenges, Delta Burial stays a cornerstone of the neighborhood.
“It’s the oldest enterprise locally. Black or white. It’s a pillar,” mentioned longtime consumer Ulysses Hentz.
As Delta Burial celebrates its centennial, it stands as a residing testomony to Black entrepreneurship, neighborhood solidarity, and resilience within the face of adversity.
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