About Us

100 Years of History

Strickland, formerly Woods Funeral Home in Somerville, began its mission in 1894 when Jebb Lee Woods and Mary Jane Sims Woods established their home in Burleson County.

They moved to Somerville when there was no depot, church, school, safe drinking water, and no funeral home or funeral director, according to a history prepared by the company.

Woods was a clerk in a grocery store, where the merchant also sold caskets and coffins in those days. Woods entered the funeral business in 1905 after assisting the other store owners and partners. Lee Woods became the community's undertaker. The first funeral parlor was in the central part of Somerville on Seventh Street, near the VFW building, where a few caskets were displayed. There was also a small office and preparation room.

In the early 1920s, Woods purchased a beautiful black, horse-drawn hearse with rubber tires, one of the county's first. By 1929, he had bought a Studebaker combination with a dark gray top and a light gray body. This combination had a special flower tray inside, arched above the casket, to carry the flowers with the remains to the cemetery. 

Woods passed away in 1932, leaving the business to his wife, the eldest son of Walter Lee Woods, and his daughter, Ruth Strickland. Mr. Woods and Mrs. Strickland were partners until 1966, when Walter Woods sold his shares to Donald Lee Strickland and Nello Strickland, Jr.

The business was incorporated as Strickland Funeral Home, Inc. in 1973. Ruth Strickland and Nello Strickland, Sr. managed the business for 42 years until Nello Strickland, Sr.'s passing. Nello Strickland, Jr., president and full-time manager; his wife, Dorothy Jane Moerbe Strickland, secretary-treasurer; Don Strickland, vice president and co-owner; and Josephine Denham Strickland, director, are additional family members who have served. Under the supervision of Kenneth Wiltz, the funeral home continues to serve the county and surrounding counties with pride.