Garcia & Trevino Funeral Home

Our History

One business that was started and survived the Great Depression of the 1930s is the Garcia & Trevino Funeral Home of Mercedes, Texas. The original idea for the establishment of this funeral business came from Guadalupe Trevino in the 1930s. Being a carpenter by profession, he felt he could construct the caskets himself. He brought into the plan his nephew, Hilario Garcia, as a business partner and to help him with the anticipated work. In the beginning, Mr. Trevino had a problem: no money to cover the cost of the supplies needed to construct and finish a casket. One day with $10.00 in his pocket, he rode the bus to Harlingen to a casket manufacturer, and there he bought upholstery material and some hardware. Somehow, he managed to get financing later for whatever else he needed. After constructing a casket, his wife Isabel M. Trevino (Chavelita as she was known) and his two daughters, Lydia and Ninfa, completed the project by upholstering the interior of the casket.

The construction of these caskets went on for a few years in a sheet metal building that was a workplace, located north of the railroad tracks on Vermont Ave. When Mr. Trevino felt he was more financially stable, he moved a small building to the present location at 439 S. Vermont Ave. He constructed an addition to the small building to serve as a chapel. Thus, was born Garcia & Trevino Funeral Home, in 1933. The partnership of Garcia & Trevino Funeral Home composed of Guadalupe Trevino and Hilario Garcia continued until the death of Hilario, in 1969. Guadalupe continued the operation of the funeral home but realized he needed help. His grandson George A. Garcia who had graduated in 1968 from Landig College of Mortuary Science in Houston, TX, came to join his grandfather in the operation of the funeral home. After the passing of Guadalupe in 1972, George (who had also become known as Chochito) continued running the funeral home with the help of his grandmother Isabel, and later his aunt Ninfa T. Garcia joined them to help with the office duties until her retirement in 1993. Mr. Garcia's son Adrian A. Garcia had graduated in 1992 from Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, TX; he then joined his father in the operation of the funeral home. In 1993 Adrian's fiancé Heather R. Harrison, who was originally from Ozark, MO, moved to the Rio Grande Valley after her graduation from Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, TX, and became another addition to the family business, the couple then married in 1995. The funeral home continued to operate under the direction of these family members. In 2001 a new, substantial, and more modern facility was constructed to accommodate the needs of the growing families they served. After George's retirement in 2019, his son Adrian took over and continued operations as the fourth generation in the family business with his wife, Heather. Throughout the many years of business, the Garcia family is grateful to those families who have entrusted them with their loved ones. They plan to continue to help the people of Mercedes and the surrounding communities during their time of need.