funeral director and owner, Tomon & Sons Funeral Homes, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, died February 19, 2025, at age 73. A third-generation owner and operator, Tomon proudly carried on the 111-year-old family business for 50 years.

He also served as president of Middleburg Heights Chamber of Commerce and was named Middleburg Heights Business Person of the Year in 1996. Tomon helped found the Middleburg Heights Big Creek Run and was honored by the city with the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award for his tireless efforts to better the community.

Tomon is survived by wife Terry; children Michael, Ashley and Cody; and seven grandchildren.

funeral director, Heritage Funeral Chapel, Peoria, Arizona, died February 7, 2025, at age 52. Senn received his bachelor’s degree in mortuary science from Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, then dedicated almost 30 years to funeral service in Ohio and Arizona. He is survived by mother Peggy Hamman, son Julian, five brothers and two sisters.

retired funeral director and vice president emeritus, E. Alvin Small Funeral Home, Colonial Heights, Virginia, died March 6, 2025, at age 98.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Small served aboard the USS Card in the North Atlantic and South Pacific during World War II. He then attended Echols Mortuary College in Pennsylvania. After graduation, he joined his brother at E. Alvin Small Funeral Home. He was appointed to the Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers by the governor and served a seven-year term, for part of which he was president. In 1990, Small and his brother turned the business over to their nephews, funeral directors Bryan Small and Louis Smith.

Small was a past president of the Kiwanis Club, of which he was a member for 60-plus years. He was a lifetime member of Kiwanis International and a George F. Hixon fellow. Also a lifetime member of the Capital District Kiwanis International, Small received a Tablet of Honor from Kiwanis International. The Kiwanis Club honored him, as well, with a Club Scholarship for high school students. Additionally, Small was a 60-plus-year member of American Legion, for which he served as service officer for 21 years, and a 50-plus-year member of Blandford Masonic Lodge.

He is survived by daughters Susan and Nancy, four grandchildren, one great-granddaughter and brother Ralph.

retired funeral director and former owner, Jacobs Funeral Home, Iron River, Michigan, died February 11, 2025, at age 80. He was the father of funeral director Paul Jacobs, current co-owner of Jacobs Funeral Home.

Jacobs earned his degree from Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science. He was employed by T.G. McCarthy Funeral Home in Pueblo, Colorado, then Muehlebach Funeral Home in Kansas City, Missouri. Jacobs relocated finally to Iron River and purchased Duvall Funeral Home, later renamed Jacobs Funeral Home. 

Jacobs was a third-degree Knight of Columbus and a former member of the Iron River Elks Lodge. During his career, he was a member of the Michigan and Wisconsin funeral directors associations.

Jacobs is survived by wife Toni, children Paul and Jennifer, and five grandchildren.

retired funeral director, Wrenn, Clarke & Hagan Funeral Home, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, died March 1, 2025, at age 79. Hagan was a Vietnam War Marine veteran and son of late NFDA Past District Governor Joseph Hagan.  He is survived by wife Deborah, daughters Angie and Whitney, and three grandsons.

retired funeral director and former owner, Southwick-Good & Fortkamp Funeral Chapel, Columbus, Ohio, died February 11, 2025, at age 79.

Good was the husband of funeral director Becky Good and father of Barbara Good Fortkamp, both of whom worked at the former Southwick-Good & Fortkamp Funeral Chapel. He was, respectively, brother and brother-in-law of Donald and Beverly Good, funeral directors, Spring Grove Funeral Homes.

Good graduated from the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science. After graduating from mortuary science school, where they met, Good and his wife moved to Columbus, Ohio, and ran Southwick-Good & Fortkamp Funeral Chapel.

Good was a member of the Ohio and Central Ohio funeral directors associations. He served as vice president of Phi Sigma Eta National Morticians Fraternity, vice president of the past Master Councilor of the E.T. Carson Chapter of the Order of DeMolay, and past president of the Civitan Club of North Columbus. He was a committee member and regular emcee for the Park of Roses Sunday Concert Series and also served on the board of advisors for Kinder Key of Columbus’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He was a former member of University Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus, Aladdin Temple Shrine and Northern Shrine Club.

He is survived by wife Becky, daughters Barbara and Elizabeth, and four grandchildren.

funeral director, L.H. Woodward Funeral Home, Brooklyn, New York, died January 7, 2025, at age 63. Thompson is survived by sister Linda.

funeral director and owner, Sims Funeral Home, Douglas, Georgia, died January 22, 2025, at age 90. After graduating from high school, Sims was accepted to The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina in Charleston. He earned numerous honors and upon graduation was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery. He later joined the Georgia National Guard and fulfilled his commitment at the rank of captain.

Sims graduated from Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science and returned to Douglas, where he joined Sims Funeral Home and began his 65-year career in funeral service. He also served Douglas and the Coffee County community as coroner for 35 years and on Farmers Bank Board of Directors. Sims was president of the Douglas Lions club, where he was a member for more than 50 years and a Melvin Jones Fellow.

He is survived by children Mary Lou and Charles Jr., brother David, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

funeral director, Warren-McElwain Mortuary Chapel, Lawrence, Kansas, died January 12, 2025, at age 74. Larkin attended mortuary science school in Chicago and did his apprenticeship at Dunn’s Funeral Home in Des Moines. He owned and operated 36 different funeral homes in five states, 10 of which he began. He operated 13 Casey’s General Stores and through the years owned and operated (with various degrees of success and failure) a car wash, a clothing store, a monument company, an internationally famous nightclub in Costa Rica and several hotels.

Larkin was a member of Crest City Masonic Lodge, Elks Lodge and Rotary Club. He served the community on the Senior Housing Board and on the Southwestern Community College Board of Directors. He was a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; founding member of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and a member of NAACP.

After his divorce, he moved daughter Emily to Costa Rica to secure better care and climate for her. It was during this time that he met Victor, and after 18 years together, they were married on January 9, 2015, in Riverside, California. Emily predeceased her father in 2000.

Larkin is survived by spouse Vika, foster son Joe Herrera, three grandchildren and five sisters.

retired funeral director and former co-owner, Harvey Funeral Home, Ardmore, Oklahoma, died February 5, 2025, at age 94. Harvey and her husband owned and operated Harvey Funeral Home until 1988, when they retired.

She was a member of the Oklahoma Funeral Directors Association, NFDA, Order of the Golden Rule and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Harvey also served on several boards, including Ardmore Day Nursery and YWCA, and was a past president and board member of Cross Timbers Hospice.

She is survived by daughters ­Merla Jean, Barbara Lou and Lisa Lynn; five grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.