Our Staff

LaVera Hodges

Owner, Funeral Director and Embalmer

LaVera has been caring for families in their time of loss for nearly 40 years. Her work continues the legacy of service that dates back to 1947 when her father, World War II veteran Nathan Hodges Jr., began his career as an embalmer and mortician. LaVera joined the family business in 1974 and has led it through several transitions since her father’s death in 2002.

She has three children and six grandchildren, and is a member of Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church in Oxford.

Zedrick Fondren

Funeral Director and Embalmer/Assistant Manager

We are pleased to welcome Zedrick Fondren, a native of Taylor, to our firm. Zedrick began his career in funeral care in 2009  and has since earned a reputation as a caring, smiling professional. He's a graduate of Lafayette High School in Oxford MS and received an associate's degree in Funeral Services from East Mississippi Community College and is a licensed funeral director/mortician and a licensed insurance agent. Zedrick has one son and is a member of Mt. Hope M.B. Church in Taylor. We are so proud to have Zedrick on our team of excellence.

Chastity Jones

Vice President & LFS

Chastity Jones, daughter of LaVera Hodges and Allen A. Jones, moved back to Mississippi in 2019 to rejoin her mother in the funeral service industry. Chastity received her Associate’sdegree in Funeral Service from Northwest Mississippi Community College and became a licensed funeral director/ mortician in 2005. She also has a Bachelor's degree in Accounting Master's Degree in Business Administration. 

Chastity has a beautiful daughter who rules the roost. She is definitely a great asset to the family's business. Her grandfather, Nathan Hodges, would be honored.