Rollings Funeral Service, headquartered in Peachtree City, Georgia, announced on Jan. 3 that it has bought another firm: Brown Funeral Home with three locations in northern New York: Adirondack Pet Cremation, Mountain View Crematory and Adirondack Memorials & Granite Works. It marks Rollings’ fifth addition in New York.

Brown Funeral Home, which has been serving its communities for over 130 years, was formerly owned by Warren Bennett. The crematory, pet crematory and monument company were formerly owned by Bennett’s wife, Kathy, and their two sons Ryan and Michael Bennett.

“I have high standards when it comes to funeral homes that I bring into our company,” said Greg Rollings, who last month announced his firm had acquired RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes with three locations in the Detroit, Michigan area and the Cremation Society of Michigan. “With Brown Funeral Home, the Bennett family has exceeded those standards. Since the 1890s, the funeral home has been the North Country’s premier funeral home when it comes to quality and care. In the years that the Bennett family has been involved, that quality and care has been strengthened, and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”

The funeral home was founded in 1892 by Eugene J. Brown, whose two sons later joined the business. Eventually, the Brown family transferred ownership of the firm to two employees in the 1960s.

Over the years, Warren Bennett, a funeral director with Brown Funeral Home since 1980, worked his way up to becoming president and owner. Bennett’s two sons, Ryan and Michael, became licensed funeral directors with the funeral home in 2008 and 2012 respectively. In 2008, Ryan started the monument company, and in 2013, the separate crematory business was started by Ryan and Michael. Then, in 2019, the pet crematory was founded.

Greg Rollings

When asked why they decided for their firms to join Rollings Funeral Service, Warren Bennett and his sons, Ryan and Michael, said, “Greg and his demeanor. The sale made far too much sense for everyone involved.”

They noted that they were pleased to learn that even though they will no longer be owners, they’ll still be able to manage and make decisions at the local level while receiving support from Rollings organization.

Annually, Brown Funeral Home and Mountain View Crematory combined to serve close to 1,000 families while the pet crematory served about 600 families in 2022.

Rollings, who worked for the Loewen Group more than 10 years, started his business in the “bonus room” of his Peachtree City home in 2001. He was president of Meridian Mortuary Group, a venture capital backed company, from 1999 to 2001 before striking out on his own.

According to a September 2022 article in Fortune magazine, his business is now a  privately owned, 90-site chain of funeral homes. According to the firm’s website, it includes locations in Georgia,  Montana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Nebraska, Vermont, Michigan, Nebraska, Connecticut and Indiana.

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