One of the finest men I have known in the profession was laid to rest today. Tommy Hurt, VP of Marketing and Sales for the Bickes, Inc. organization (Wilbert Licensee), passed away suddenly on April 21.   Tommy was truly dedicated to the profession and a remarkable friend to all who knew him.

I met Tommy back in the early 90's when I started my career with Wilbert Funeral Services.  At that time, Tommy was a member of Wilbert's Sales & Marketing Committee.  I was impressed with how much he cared about our profession and was easily drawn to his kind and caring manner.  

A couple of years after I met Tommy, he invited me to come down to Tennessee and Mississippi to conduct some cremation seminars for his customers. I admired Tommy's request because at that time the cremation rate in the two states was very low, less than 4% in Mississippi.  He was definitely proactive in educating his customers!

Tommy told me that we would be conducting the seminars in three cities that week.  So basically we would conduct the seminar, get up the next morning, drive 200 or more miles and conduct the next seminar.  We certainly did a lot of driving (which by the way is something Tommy really liked to do) and got to know each other much better.  It was during that trip that I witnessed how much it meant to Tommy to stop by as many graveside services as he possibly could during his travels.  I believe we stopped and witnessed at least six services during that week.  Tommy was truly a believer in the value of graveside services, and it was important to him that he paid his respect to the many families that utilized one of Bickes' vault products.  I have no idea of how many graveside services Tommy has attended during his lifetime, but I have to believe he's been to thousands.

So, today as he was laid to rest at the Petit Jean Mountain State Park Cemetery in Morrilton, Arkansas, I can't help but think about all the individuals whose graveside services Tommy had attended over the years.  I have to believe they were there in spirit and are happy to finally meet Tommy.     

Tommy will be greatly missed by all who knew him.  My deepest sympathy to his entire family.