History

Our Story

Learn Our Story, from the beginning and into the future.

From the Beginning

Arvin Harrell started his college education at Southwest Texas State University and took a job at Pennington Funeral Home helping out while he lived in an apartment over the garage. Not only did the job provide a place for him to live, but it birthed in him a passion for serving in the funeral industry that has passed down to another generation. Mr. Harrell graduated from San Antonio College of Mortuary Science receiving his funeral director’s license and began working for Jimmy Clay at Wilke Clay Funeral Home in 1961. It was there he met his bride Patsy Washburn Harrell. In 1963, Arvin joined Weed Corley Funeral Home progressing to Assistant Manager and then later moving to Wilke Clay Funeral Home and becoming part owner of the Funeral Home in 1976.

Harrell Funeral Home is Born

It was during his employment at Wilke Clay that Arvin decided he wanted to build his own funeral homes. In 1983 the birth of Harrell Funeral Home began with the Austin location being constructed. The funeral home opened on February 4, 1984 on Frontier Trail. Three years later, the Dripping Springs location opened on the corner of Ranch Rd. 12 and Highway 290 West. The new Harrell Chapel added beauty and grace to the Dripping Springs Community as the remodeled former First Methodist Church Sanctuary. It put into action Harrell’s goal of bringing to the Dripping Springs area the same personalized, considerate service it has known in Austin. Harrell Funeral Home in Dripping Springs remained on that corner for 22 years and then was relocated to Hwy 290 West and Heritage Drive in October 2008 to more fully serve the needs of the growing community West of Austin. Harrell Funeral Home in Kyle was established in 2008 to meet the quickly expanding needs of families located south of Austin in the Buda and Kyle

Continuing An Established Legacy

It was always Arvin’s dream to help people and treat them like family when they were going through some of the most difficult times. Today, Jason and Patsy Harrell are continuing the legacy at Harrell Funeral Home in honor of Arvin Harrell. The tradition established and dream once envisioned has now come to full fruition. It is their pleasure to serve your family during the difficult times that you face. They consider it an honor that you would choose Harrell Funeral Home to walk alongside you and promise to make the journey as peaceful as possible. While they cannot change the path that has brought you here, they can help lead you forward with a gentle, guiding hand, and compassionate care through each step of the process. They want your loved one to be remembered and treasured, and for you to look back on the experience and be able to celebrate the life they lived in its entirety, even till the end. Whether you see the service as the end of one chapter or the beginning of another, here at Harrell you will find Where Love Lives On.

Why Us?

Because Family-Owned Makes A Difference.
We are the Largest Family-Owned Funeral Home in Austin.

Devoted to Meeting Your Needs… Not Stockholders. We feel we can only accomplish our mission as a family-owned business that is not governed by the beliefs and values of a corporate entity. We know being family owned makes a difference in how we can serve you. Today, being family owned is rare in the funeral home industry. More frequently, family and independently-owned homes are being bought and operated by large national providers. Harrell Funeral Home is the largest family owned funeral home serving in Austin and the surrounding areas. We promise to remain independently owned so that our success is not measured outside our community by stockholders, but instead is measured here by the families we are currently serving and will serve in the generations to come.

Devoted to Growing the Best… Not Biggest Funeral Home. We are devoted to growing the best, not the biggest, funeral home in Austin. We define the best as one with the opportunity to invest in long-term relationships and not stockholders. A business focused on meeting the community’s needs in which we live and serve. Our investment is not built around profit margins; it is measured by the relationships that are established.

Devoted to See You Through… Even After the Funeral is Over… When the funeral is over, and everyone has gone home, we are still here for you. Our commitment is to continue to walk beside you and help you complete the necessary tasks that are associated with the loss of life. We are the only funeral home in Austin that will continue to walk with you before, during, and after the funeral is over. We want to be remembered as a place that loved you well.