Dockery Funeral Home, Inc.

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About Dockery-Senter Funeral Home, Inc.

Our heart is to serve you in your time of sorrow and bereavement, whether before, during or after the passing of a loved one.

Dockery Funeral Home, Inc. is family-owned and operated near the heart of the city of Morristown, TN. Founded in 1930, we are experienced and committed to caring for the needs of the families of our community and surrounding areas.

We offer a wide arrays of services and products to meet your personalized needs. Whether you wish for something simple, such as an immediate burial or cremation, or something more like a traditional funeral and burial, we are here to help you as you choose how to memorialize and honor the legacy of your loved one.

We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to answer any questions you may have. Call us any time for immediate assistance or schedule an appointment to meet with one of our professional staff.

Interested in learning more?

Dockery Funeral Home was founded in 1930 by Ed and Juanita Dockery with a purpose to serve the African American population. After a short time in business, he developed a partnership with Earl Temple, and the funeral home was changed to Dockery & Temple Mortuary. Mr. Temple later relocated to Oklahoma, and the funeral home changed back to Dockery Funeral Home. In the mid-1940s, the funeral home completely burned down from its original location. At the time of the fire, there were four bodies in the funeral home at the time, all of which were saved out of the fire. Because Mr. Ed was also a brick mason and a general instructor at the Morristown College, a historically Black college, he was able to attain the help of his veteran trade students to rebuild the funeral home in less than one month.

After the passing of Mr. Ed Dockery in 1979, Mrs. Juanita carried on the legacy of the funeral home, as she was also a licensed funeral director at the time. During the time of her reign, a partnership was developed with Mr. Otis Yeary, Jr., transitioning the funeral home into Dockery & Yeary Funeral Home. However, that partnership was soon dissolved and the funeral home was reverted back to Dockery Funeral Home. In 1983, Joseph Senter was asked to come around the funeral home to help Mrs. Juanita, as a favor to her son Walter Dockery, who was living in Atlanta at the time. His services drew him more into the funeral service field, as he became part of the staff of the funeral home.

Due to the ailing health of Mrs. Juanita, the funeral home took a decline in the business. Around this time, Walter retired from Dekalb County Recreation Department and decided to move back to Morristown with goals and objectives to revive the declining funeral home. In 1991, Walter and his wife Peggy became the owners of the renewed Dockery Funeral Home. Business was slow at first; however, Walter, better known as “Tockey,” had a heart to give back to the community from which he grew up in. In 1993, Joseph Senter graduated from Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service, to which he later became a licensed Funeral Director, a licensed Embalmer, and later the manager of Dockery’s.

Mrs. Juanita went on to be with the Lord in 1997. Nevertheless, with a desire to better serve the community, Walter and Peggy pressed on in their service to the community. Together, they renovated the funeral home and converted part of the living quarters of the funeral home to expand the chapel. In following years, numerous upgrades were made to the funeral home, including 2 sequential expansions. The first expansion in 2001 enclosed an outside ramp to add a newer office, casket room and restroom. In 2005, another expansion was completed, enhancing the facility by adding a 280-seat chapel with an 8-car garage and additional storage space.

To this day, Dockery Funeral Home, Inc. continues to operate as a family-owned and operated funeral home, serving to all races, nationalities and religious denominations of the Morristown-Hamblen community and surrounding areas.