Gentry-Smith Funeral Home

04/29/2026

This is an interesting question that has been posed several times over the years in one from or another. This article gives an answer, reasoning, and context behind both sides of the argument:

https://www.gotquestions.org/cremation-Bible.html

04/27/2026

04/22/2026

When a family isn’t keen on just having a cremation, it can cause internal turmoil, especially if finances are driving the decision for cremation. A few options that have alleviated families’ concerns are a “budget” funeral, an immediate burial, and a funeral with a cremation.

When working with a funeral provider, you should select someone you are comfortable sharing your budget with. Having a relationship of trust goes a long way, and a funeral provider can take your budget and use it as the parameters for showing you merchandise and service options that fit your needs. There is a chance that media and word-of-mouth stories about funeral expenses have inflated the cost higher than what it actually is.

If that is not the case for your family, it then usually falls down to deciding if it’s cremating your loved one that bothers you or if it’s not getting the funeral service. An immediate burial does not include services but is a lower cost burial option. Your funeral provider should be able to advise you on a cemetery that does not require an outer burial container to further reduce your costs.

If you’d still like to have a service and are okay with the cremation, your family has the option to have a full funeral and then have your loved one cremated after the service.

04/15/2026

The state of Tennessee imposes regulations on cremation to funeral consumers. There are four primary areas where regulations are imposed: 1) Authorization, 2) Authority, 3) Permitting, and 4) Merchandise.

Before a cremation can occur, three documents must be in place. The first is a cremation authorization signed by all equal, legal next-of-kin. Next-of-kin can be a spouse, parents, adult children, siblings, or a designated health-care agent. The second document is the certified death certificate, which is signed by the funeral director and the physician certifying the death. Finally, the third document is a cremation permit , signed and approved by the medical examiner in the county of death.

If you choose cremation as the method of disposition, a funeral provider cannot require you to purchase a casket. Instead, there is an alternative container that is used for transport of your loved one around the crematory.

On top of these regulations, Tennessee conducts regular inspections of funeral providers as well as crematories to ensure the maintenance of identification protocols and accurate record keeping.

04/14/2026

Martha Dillon Brandon

Martha Francis Dillon Brandon was born in Woodbury, Tennessee, on April 29, 1929, daughter of Herbert John and Gladys Francis Dillon. She was raised on a farm, with four sisters and two brothers. She was preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband of sixty-six years, Charles Winston Brandon, her brothers Frank Boyd and John Hopkins (Nancy King) Dillon, sisters Julie Muszynski (Frank), Rachel Haley (Jackie) and Christine Dillon. She is survived by her youngest sister, Elizabeth Rowe of...

View Martha Dillon Brandon's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

04/13/2026

William "WR" Nichols

William Richmond “WR” Nichols, Jr, 88, of Woodbury passed away on April 13, 2026. He was born January 23, 1938, in Woodbury, Tennessee. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Richmond Nichols, Sr. and Maggie Lucille Davenport Nichols, wife, Jo Ann Hughes Nichols, son, Jeffery William Nichols, grandson, Jeffery “Bubba” Dewayne Nichols, brothers, Thomas (Ruth) Nichols and Roy Nichols, and a sister, Nancy Ann Nichols. He is survived by his daughters, Arlene (Dewey Barrett) Wilson of Woodbury and...

View William "WR" Nichols's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

04/08/2026

When cremation is the selected method of disposition, there can be concerns about how people can be sure they are getting their loved one back. Most of these suspicions and concerns arise from incidents where funeral providers in other states failed to carry out their duties with integrity and a high moral standard.

Tennessee has its own rules and regulations regarding cremation, which we will discuss more next week. However, the primary ones that safeguard your loved one in terms of this question lie in the identification and documentation.

Visual Identification: If a family decides not to view their loved one and the funeral director does not personally know the decedent, then a photo is provided for the funeral director to visually identify your loved one before a cremation can take place.

Chain of Custody: From the point a funeral provider takes your loved one into their care, a chain of custody is started. If the funeral provider does not have a crematory on site, any transfer of your loved one into another provider’s care is documented and signed by the delivering and receiving parties.

Documentation: There are several documents that follow your loved one throughout the cremation process to verify and confirm identity. Additional documents are produced as the cremation takes place, tying your loved one to an internal cremation number that links all of their data together and distinguishes them from anyone else.

04/01/2026

The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) defines cremation as "the mechanical, thermal, or other dissolution process that reduces human remains to bone fragments. Cremation also includes processing and pulverization of the bone fragments into pieces that are usually no more than one-eighth inch."

If you're interested in knowing more about cremation, you can read about the process at https://www.cremationassociation.org/cremationprocess.html.