TERRA ALTA – Arthur H Wright Funeral Home in Terra Alta will celebrate over 130 years of funeral service on Sunday. In sharing the anniversary news, owners Jerry and Jennifer Field also announced the groundbreaking of their funeral chapel expansion.
Field said the groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Arthur H. Wright Funeral Home on Highland Avenue, in Terra Alta.
“The new chapel is scheduled to open summer/fall of 2025,” Jennifer Field said, “and will better accommodate the families we serve in the Preston County community. The expansion to our main building will also allow us to prepare for the future ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional care.
She said for the past 130 years, Fike-Watson Funeral Home, now Arthur H. Wright Funeral Home has served families throughout the Preston County area and beyond. Field said longevity in business is one of the hallmarks of sustained success over time and can indicate a business’ reputation and commitment to quality services.
“Since September of 1966, our building on Highland Avenue has proudly served as the funeral home location.” she said. “It hasn’t been just brick and mortar, it’s been a familiar place, one that has become a tradition in itself.”
Field said in 2017, a number of renovations were done to the property, including adding two wheelchair accessible restrooms. She said new paint, carpet and furniture added a warm and inviting feeling to the funeral home. Improvements also made the building completely handicapped accessible and updated many other items. She said the name of the funeral home will not be changed.
Field also spoke about the history of the funeral home.
“One hundred and thirty years ago, Adolphus R. Fike had a dream,” she said. “Even though he was a successful farmer, merchant, contractor and furniture maker, he felt led to do something that would truly make a difference in people’s lives. He saw a need in the community to serve families when a death had occurred. He started in the funeral business in 1894 as a partner in A.R. Fike, undertaking in Eglon where they provided not only funeral services but made caskets and rough box vaults.
“Adolphus was a 1903 graduate of the Pennsylvania College of embalming. This is a special date to me, because 90 years later I graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science in 1993.”
Adolphus Fike was never one to rest on his laurels, always looking for new ways to improve his business.
“After moving his business to Terra Alta in 1907, he had many Preston County firsts,” Field said. “He owned the first horse-drawn hearse, first grave lowering device with grave grass and even purchased the first motorized hearse in 1917.”
The business itself evolved over time, changing location – and hands – through the years.
“The Fike-Watson Funeral Home conducted business in several different buildings in Terra Alta,” Field said. “In the early years, it was housed in a building on Washington Street. In the 1930s, the Fike-Watson Funeral Home, then owned by P.R. Watson Sr., Lulu Fike Watson and P.R. Watson Jr., purchased the old Casseday Motel and moved the business there. In 1966, John and Norma Whitehair purchased the business. They soon purchased this building, called Sunset Hall here on Highland Ave. and moved the business here. They conducted funerals downstairs, and their residence was upstairs for 35 years. John was a 1945 graduate of Terra Alta High School and later graduated from the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science. He also ran a successful ambulance service in conjunction with the funeral home.”
The year 1985 brought another change, she said.
“Art and Sylvia Wright purchased the business and building and changed the name to Arthur H. Wright Funeral Home,” she explained. “They conducted services and made their residence in Sunset Hall until their retirement in 1995. At this time, Mark Spear and Sonia and Robby Greaser partnered and purchased the funeral home. This partnership continued until 2015, when they sold the business to my husband Jerry and I . We were committed to continuing the legacy of exceptional care that the business has been privileged to provide. While the funeral home had taken on new ownership, the same level of personalized service you had come to know, and trust will continue for many years to come.”
Refreshments will be served at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, prior to the ceremony. There will be guest speakers and the Preston County Honor Guard will be in attendance. Field said it will be an outdoor ceremony and advises attendees to dress accordingly.
To contact the Arthur H. Wright Funeral Home, call 304-789-2291. For the Field Funeral Home, located at 10537 Veterans Memorial Highway, in Masontown, phone 304-864- 5295.
