History of Our Funeral Home

Cobb Funeral Home was established in 1890 by Mr. J.C. Cobb.  The original name was the J.C. Cobb Undertaking Company - a small business operation.  Because most people were embalmed at home, the funeral home did not have a preparation room or embalming tables.  Initially, the embalmer would take his instruments in a large bag (much like a medical doctor's bag) and what was then known as a "cooling board". He would embalm and dress the deceased person at the individual's home.  It was customary for the family to come to the funeral home and choose a casket which would be taken to the home and the body placed inside.  The "wake" would be held continuously at the residence until the time of the funeral.

There was no funeral home chapel in those days.  Most services were held in the family's church or at their home.  Cobb Funeral Home still has an original horse-drawn hearse on the premises, which was used in those early days.

In 1914, William H. Stovall, Sr., came to Blytheville having completed embalming school in Nashville, Tennessee.  He came as an embalmer hired by Mr. Cobb.  Within two years, Mr. Cobb died and Mr. Stovall, yet a very young man, formed a stock company with several local residents and bought the funeral home from Mrs. Cobb.

As the years went by, Stovall gradually paid back all his investors, and the funeral home belonged to him.  The first Cobb Funeral Home building was built on North Second Street adjacent to the present city hall building.  It was built by Mr. Stovall in the 1920's and was one of the first funeral home buildings in Arkansas built as a funeral home only.  This building is still standing and is currently being used to house private law offices.

In the early 1940's Cobb Funeral Home was moved to its present location at Main and Sixth Streets into a building originally built as a lodge with private living quarters.  The Stovall family lived in this building until 1955 at which time the building underwent major reconstruction and a new air-conditioned chapel was added.

William H. Stovall, Jr., became associated in an official capacity with Cobb Funeral Home after his graduation from the University of Arkansas and the St. Louis Mortuary School in 1949.  He was actively involved in the operation and growth of the firm serving as president from 1985 until his death in 1997.  Under his leadership, the firm expanded the scope of the funeral home operation in all areas - cemeteries, the Memorial Insurance Company, and active establishment of the pre-need funeral offering.  It was under his guidance that Cobb Funeral Home acquired the former Howard Funeral Home (a long-time competitor) in 1971.

The company's current president, William H. Stovall, III, came into the firm in 1973, after graduation from the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service. Like his father, he too was a graduate of the University of Arkansas.  In 1977, he saw the need to construct a newer and better designed funeral home building, and with the agreement of his father and grandfather, he employed and worked with J. Stuart Todd Architects of Dallas, Texas to design a new building that was subsequently built at the familiar Main Street Location.

The main calling of Cobb Funeral Home since the earliest days of the company has been to deliver the very best service to every family that we serve regardless of their circumstances or means.  It is the goal which inspires us each day, now and into the future.