After working for local funeral homes since the age of 15, Tyler Woods came to a realization: Burying loved ones shouldn't bury their families in debt.
Woods recently latched onto that sentiment, expanding his three funeral-related businesses into a fourth: Jefferson City's only cut-rate funeral service. He also touts that he operates the city's only Catholic-owned funeral service.
"I could see the need for a more affordable option," he said. "What we've done is made it affordable to anybody, any walk of life, any denomination."
Woods said he's able to provide a funeral for about $8,500 - far less than the typical $12,000-$20,000 cost. He said he does it without compromising "first-class service."
He's able to pass savings along to families because his business is smaller, and has fewer overhead costs. He has four full-time employees and six part-timers, and operates out of rented office space at 611 E. Capitol Ave. He has space there to do almost everything that other funeral homes do, but without a "million-dollar chapel," he says.
Instead, he relies on churches and organizations such as the Knights of Columbus to provide space for both visitations and services. After each funeral, he makes a donation to the host for allowing use of the space.
He said moving visitations/services to churches that otherwise would be at a funeral home has been well-received by local clergy, and some families have said after a service that they plan to attend regularly the church where the visitation/service was held.
In addition to the savings through a leaner operation, Woods said customers get personalized service - he answers his own phone 24/7, rather than employing an after-hours answering service. He also said he sells caskets and vaults at cost, with no markup.
Woods Pet Funeral Services started in 2001, followed by Tyler M. Woods Colonial Monument Co. in 2008. In 2012, he started Woods Cremation & Burial Services. This May, he expanded to the
traditional funeral and burial service business, named Tyler M. Woods Funeral Director.
He said shortly after starting his cremation service, he was working with a family whose child had died. While crying over their loss, they also were stressed about paying for the cremation. As Woods wrote the bill for the costs in front of them, he wrote "paid in full" and handed it to them. Since then, he said, his policy is not to charge for children's funerals.
"Nobody should ever have to bury a child," he said.
Woods is constantly looking for expansion opportunities. He talked with Barbara Buescher about buying her shuttered funeral home a couple blocks away from his, but they couldn't come to an agreement. He said he's looking to expand in other communities in the area, and at some point could add a chapel to his business.