LEXINGTON — It is not the end of a legacy; it’s a continuance for the next generation at Reynolds-Love Funeral Home.
John Reynolds will retire Aug. 31 after 40 years.
When talking about his retirement, John said, “The night work just got to me. Being available day and night was getting too much.”
Reynolds-Love Funeral Home was founded in 1962 by John’s father, Marlin Reynolds of Seward.
After farming until the age of 45, Marlin Reynolds attended mortuary school in Dallas. After graduation, he moved his family to Lexington in 1962.
In 1965, Marlin bought the Timm Funeral Home in Callaway and the Romatzke Funeral Home in Overton to expand business.
John helped his father around the business part-time with the ambulance calls and was the head car washer. John’s wife, Tami, started working at the funeral home for Marlin from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. answering the phone and doing laundry.
People are also reading…
In 1984, John and Tami along with their son, Nick, moved to Dallas as John attended mortuary school.
In 1985, the couple purchased the funeral home as partners in the corporation.
John graduated in 1986 and moved his family back to Lexington.
“None of this could have ever existed without all of our part-time help,” John said. “They have just been a vital part of this whole thing.”
Upon his retirement, John said, “I don’t really have any plans. We have some river ground that needs some work. I will probably golf and do some traveling. Help down here at the funeral home when needed.”
Keeping on with the legacy, the Reynolds’ son, Nick, is taking over as owner.
As Nick grew up, he had no interest in the family business. He went to college to become a teacher and a coach.
The summer before his sophomore year of college, Nick came back to Lexington to help his father at the funeral home.
“I had a newfound respect of what my parents did here and there was a job opportunity,” Nick said. “I enjoyed working with the families. I just took the job, and here we are 20 plus years later.”
Nick attended mortuary school in Denver in 2003 and is the third generation at the funeral home.
Another addition to the Reynolds-Love Funeral Home is Jessica Laguna-Medrano. She recently graduated from mortuary school and will receive her funeral director license in January 2024.
“I had lost my brother,” Laguna-Medrano said. “The funeral service in North Carolina was just so different. Coming back here and seeing how they took care of my brother, and they were very accommodating, I just decided that I wanted to do that. I wanted to be able to help families through their grieving process.”
Tami Reynolds said, “We are honored that we have Nick coming in, and we are honored that Jessica is almost finished and has decided to choose our firm to work.
“We want to say thank you to everybody, every family that we ever worked with. They became our families.”
John said, “We met a lot of people here, people we would have never met that are still friends of ours.”
“I love the community of Lexington,” Nick said. “They have been very good to my family. Jessica and I look forward to continuing the legacy of the Reynolds family in serving the community.”
