Terry A. Parker, longtime employee of McMikle Funeral Home (Charleston and Sikeston), assumed ownership of both firms January 31, 2024. Parker purchased the business in its entirety from owner Mary Katherine McMikle-Branum, daughter of the business founders, and husband Bill Branum.
Associated with McMikle’s since February 1989, Parker became a licensed Missouri funeral director in July 1992. He is also a preneed agent and the second generation of the Parker family to be associated with the McMikle firm. His late parents, Jim and Sylvia Wilson Parker, worked for the funeral home in years past.
A lifelong resident of Charleston, Parker has served as Mississippi County coroner since January 2002. He has also served on numerous boards throughout the Charleston and Mississippi County area. He and the funeral home are members of the Missouri Funeral Directors Association, the Southeast Missouri Funeral Directors Association and NFDA.
In 1951, Elgin and Sue McMikle founded McMikle Funeral Home in East Prairie, Missouri, and opened a branch in Charleston in 1954. In time, the latter location would become the operation center of the firm. In February 2020, the former Blanchard Funeral Chapel in Sikeston was purchased and, after a total renovation and added parking, the McMikle staff began to serve Sikeston and Scott County from that location.
In a sense, because Parker grew up around the McMikle family and worked with them for 34 years, the business remains the same family-owned and -operated firm with its capable staff. That includes Parker’s sister, Leslie A. Parker, who comes to the funeral home after working 20 years for the Charleston R-1 School District. Additional staff members include Melinda Heaton, secretary and service assistant; Michelle Russom, office manager and bookkeeping; Scott Branam, licensed funeral director, embalmer and preneed agent; Eric Starnes, licensed funeral director and embalmer; Jacquie Hinchey Castaneda, part-time secretary and service assistance; and Keith Cook, maintenance. Part-time employees include embalmer and funeral director Scott Riley and service staff members Charles Caldwell, John Walton, David McLucas, Daniel Adams and Edmund McGuire.
McMikle Funeral Home offers complete funeral and cremation services. Parker and his staff pledge to continue serving Mississippi and Scott counties with the same integrity and compassion exhibited by the McMikle family for more than 73 years. mcmiklefuneralhome.com