Birchette Mortuary

His son, John Fletcher Birchette IV (John), said Fletcher Birchette’s main objective was to help children and the elderly. He particularly loved the Carver Recreation Center in Johnson City, fulfilling needs of the center anonymously for years as well as going above and beyond for the families who came through Birchette Mortuary Inc. after services ended.“Just as a father, I know there is no such thing as a perfect man, but he was the perfect father,” said John Birchette. “He taught me everything I know about being a man, and he wasn't into accolades and praise. He just taught me to be humble and to love people and that we were born to serve.”A friend of Birchette’s, Bethel Christian Church pastor Vincent M. Dial, said Birchette was never proud and that he “stood for the decency of human existence.”“Rarely did you hear him speak about himself,” said Dial. “It was always about the other person. Always about those who had a greater need than he did. Never once did I hear him complain.”His godson, William Bundy, described Birchette as an ambassador “not only for Johnson City, but the African-American Community as well,” and said he will be truly missed.“This is more than just about us or the Birchettes. He was just a phenomenal person.”Birchette grew up in Johnson City, and after graduating from Langston High School in 1962, continued his education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and East Tennessee State University. He was an employee of Veterans Administration, Mountain Home, for more than 30 years before serving as president and funeral director for Birchette Mortuary Inc. for more than 30 additional years.Birchette is remembered also for his passion for people and his longtime service to the community due to his involvement in numerous clubs, civic committees and serving on many boards of directors, including the Johnson City Senior Citizens Center, Langston Heritage Group and the Washington County-Johnson City NAACP. Ralph Davis, president of the Washington County-Johnson City NAACP and a close friend of Birc... (Johnson City Press (subscription))

Police escorts should be discontinued due to safety and liability concerns, with some exceptions similar to other cities,” Sirois told city leaders.Though there has been some public backlash against the recommendation, Woodall-Anderson and Dugger Funeral Home Director Al Dugger said people will most likely adapt to the changes with time.“I think it’ll work, but we’ll probably have some negative feedback as well,” he said. “The larger cities have all discontinued that (police escorts). And Johnson City has grown so much, so that’s probably part of it. Some traditions change, and I know that’ll be a hard one to accept.”On Friday, the Johnson City Press requested an interview with Sirois, but he was unavailable for further comments.The safety concerns cited by Sirois are also a matter of concern to many at the local funeral homes, according to John Birchette, director of Birchette Mortuary. He said he has witnessed firsthand how funeral processions can become dangerous traffic hazards.“As a tradition, I hate to see it go away, but I see the risks involved,” Birchette said. “We were one of the funeral homes where one of these accidents were involved.“About three years ago, a lady cut in front of the officer on the motorcycle. Luckily, he wasn’t seriously hurt. It could’ve been a lot worse than it was, but after witnessing that, it certainly opened my eyes.”Still, Birchette said he can understand how abandoning the tradition could be difficult for some families to accept.“I’m third-generation in this business, and from the tradition standpoint, it does hurt to see it go away,” he said. “I understand it from a family’s point of view. It’s symbolic — like a last pay of respects to these people.”Travis Dugger from Appalachian Funeral Home said the tradition began partly because of the fact that some cemeteries in rural areas didn’t have addresses. The processions served as a way for everybody to be able to find the location of the services.“I hate to see it go. It’ll be hard to tell the families we can’t do it anymore,” he said... (Johnson City Press (subscription))