Sarai Reed, who grew up in Spring Hill, has been promoted to general manager of Brazzel Funeral Homes, a move that places her in charge of the funeral home's daily operations while continuing to serve families in Hope, Prescott and the surrounding area.

A licensed funeral director and embalmer in both Arkansas and Texas, who credits UAHT for her training, Reed will oversee the day-to-day operations of the funeral home while continuing its tradition of serving families with personalized care.

For Reed, the promotion represents the achievement of a professional goal she has pursued for the better part of a decade. "I'm super excited for the promotion," she said. "This has been something I've worked for for seven years. It's just a bigger way to serve the community."

She said the new position will make a difference in the funeral home's running as Brazzel continues expanding its staff and the services it offers. "We're making a few changes," Reed said. "Our daily operations is going to change a little bit. We're getting new staff, and just trying to serve everybody to the best of our ability."

Reflecting on her time serving families in Hope, Reed said the experience has strengthened her relationship with Brazzel’s service region and prepared her for the new responsibility. "I just feel like I've gained a lot more trust with the community since being down here," she said. "I've gotten to serve in a bigger way. Everything's kind of been rolling towards getting this promotion. And it's just a huge blessing to have it."

Brazzel's staff now includes owner Ben Brazzel, Reed as general manager, Assistant Manager Tim Dickerson, Apprentice Funeral Director Rodney Buckrum and receptionist Lawanna Ray. Dickerson recently stepped into his expanded role after previously serving on the cemetery crew, Buckrum joined the funeral home about a month ago, and Ray has welcomed families to the funeral home for the past four years.

Looking ahead, Reed said she wants to increase awareness of services that can help families long before they need to arrange a funeral. "We sell monuments now," she said. "People can come and see me for that. For pre-arrangements, we want to kind of get out in the community more and promote pre-arrangements and monument sales and help any way we can when it comes to anything in addition to funeral services."

Another expansion is already underway in the form of some construction at the Hope headquarters. "We are starting to build a crematory," Reed said. "It puts a whole new meaning to the phrase, they never leave our care."

Reed said she is grateful for the opportunity to continue serving area families in her new role. "My opinion," she said, "we're the best funeral home in Hope."