Premier Funeral Home

“Disappointing. Premier has a very nice, new facility and Chapel and, at first, the staff was professional. But it seemed that because of the holiday, we did not receive the service that we expected. The first young man that we met with suddenly stopped returning our phone calls (December 9-10th). Finally, after repeated calls, the owner stepped in to explain that there had been a "staff change" which had led to this problem. Things went smoothly after this... until the funeral day. Their chaplain was not available to officiate (which was one of the reasons that we chose Premier). But they assured us that someone named Bishop Spence would be present to preside. This was acceptable. But, with no notice or discussion, when we showed up at the funeral, we learned that the Bishop's wife had been substituted to officiate the service. Min. Spence (we assume) clearly did not have the experience or spiritual depth to manage the funeral. It felt like she was learning on the job from start to finish. Secondly, we were told that there would be piped in music during the funeral service. We were shocked when Min. Spence asked the family if anyone could sing or lead the songs. The guest preacher had to lead the first song... and the family had to sing the second song (The Lord's Prayer)... both acapella. There was no music provided at all. And we never met Bishop Spence. Third, as we headed to the burial site in Lonoke, the security drivers pulled away from the funeral procession just outside of Lonoke city limits ... and the Hearse driver did not know the way to the cemetery. She pulled to the side of the road. No one told the family that the security drivers were prohibited from entering Lonoke city limits. Thankfully, our brother pulled ahead and led the funeral procession the rest of the way. At the gravesite, again, the officiant's closure/commital reflected spiritual immaturity. She gave a brief prayer with no formal words of commital. Finally, the worst insult of all was that the family had to cover the grave. It was a cloudy day with impending rain and no one was there to cover up the grave after our sister's casket was lowered. The officiant told the family that she did not know when the grave would be covered because the people who were supposed to cover it were attending to other funerals outside the city. She stated, "We are not going to pay them for this." To which we responded that "the family expects to be reimbursed since we had to cover the grave!" NO ONE was around as our sister's body was being left in a hole to be rained on!!! Thank God that our family did not leave the site... and the men (and women) covered the grave with one shovel and with their bare hands. As this was happening, the family called the people who dug the grave, and we were told that Premier had only alerted them on the day of the funeral (December 27th) of the burial on that same day. They said they already had the other funerals scheduled for that day. And this is why they were not on site for our sister's covering. Again, Premier, you had plenty of time to attend to these details. And, no one communicated any of this to the family. As we said, some of your folks did a great job (the family car drivers, program developers, and those who first stepped in after your "staff change." But, you let us down in key areas of officiating and in the follow through on the funeral and burial. We feel that you had plenty of time to attend to the details. And you didn't. Sadly, we did not feel that we received the quality outcome that we were expecting from you. And you have not reached out to apologize or express your own disappointment. Family of Wanda Spivey-Luckey”

— Pastor Elaine Sanford

“Premier funeral home has always provided excellent service.Bill Walker and the staff at Premier funeral provided an awesome service as we honored my mother Audrey Roberts. Premier truly stands by its motto. “Only Heaven can Serve you better””

— David Withers

“Kenya did an awesome job for the services of my beloved uncle Quinton Handy Sr. She was extremely professional with a personal touch. Her attention to the details and addressing our needs made the entire process seamless. Thank you Kenya and Premier Funeral Home.”

— Myrtis Randolph