Our History
The "Vaughan Tradition" began in the early years of the last century when Newton A. Vaughan assumed ownership of a small furniture and "undertaking" business in Adelphi, Ohio. His youngest son, Stanley N. Vaughan, Sr., came to Parkersburg in 1924 and quickly recognized the need for a funeral service unique to the community. In 1930, Stanley, Sr. and his wife, Rowena, opened Vaughan Funeral Home. They dedicated their lives to providing that unique service for those discerning families that preferred a funeral home known for extreme standards of attention to detail, professional embalming skills, and unsurpassed care in fulfilling the family's wishes, standards that, over the decades, others have tried to imitate. In 1933, Stanley, Sr. purchased the Philip Neal estate at 1010 Murdoch Avenue and moved the funeral business to that location, where it remains today. Since our founding, we've been known for our high standards of trust, tradition, and fair prices.
Stanley, Sr.'s son, Stanley, Jr., spent his teen years assisting at the funeral home, and in 1946, after completing his military service, became a full-time active member of the family funeral home. In 1972, Stanley, Jr. and his wife, the former Kathleen West, purchased the funeral home from his parents and continued "the Vaughan Tradition" until their retirement in the 1990s.
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Sam Church
Sam Church was raised in Belpre and now lives in Vienna. He is a cum laude graduate of Ohio State University with a background in accounting and business management. He is able to provide advice and assistance to families who need help with advance planning, estate planning or with the many decisions involved in probate and closing estates, another of the many aftercare services available to families served by Vaughan Funeral Home.
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Alan Parks
Alan Parks is a Ritchie County native, but has lived in the Parkersburg area for more that twenty-five years. He graduated cum laude from West Virginia University and summa cum laude from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science where he received the Nunnamaker Award, the highest award bestowed upon a graduate. He received numerous awards for outstanding skills in practical embalming and restorative art. As a licensed funeral director, he began serving families in the Parkersburg area in 1975.
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Mark E. Hickman
Mark E. Hickman is a life-long resident of the Parkersburg area. He is a graduate of Parkersburg South High School and attended West Virginia University at Parkersburg and Morgantown. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science where he also received numerous awards for outstanding achievements in practical mortuary science and in restorative art. His entire adult life has been primarily dedicated to assisting families at an extremely difficult time in their lives. He is a former city councilman and he and his wife Vicki live in Parkersburg. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Laine and Lynley.
