FErguson-Lee History
The current Ferguson-Lee Funeral Home was started in 1937 by Raymond Sherwood and Claude Ferguson, known as Sherwood-Ferguson Funeral Home, located at the current corner of 18th and “I” Streets in Bedford, Indiana.
In the mid 1940’s, a third partner was taken in by the name of Roy Speer. Upon the death of Raymond Sherwood, the name changed to Ferguson-Speer Funeral Home. Roy Speer took control of Mr. Ferguson’s share in the business and became the sole owner. The business operated with Mr. Ferguson as an employee only until 1959.
On June 1, 1959, Paul Branson and Robert Lee purchased the assets and business of Ferguson-Speer Funeral Home, and the name was changed to Ferguson-Branson Funeral Home. In 1962, Paul Branson had a series of coronaries and Robert Lee assumed the debt of the funeral home and became the sole owner. Claude Ferguson stayed on as a senior employee and advisor and the name became Ferguson-Lee Funeral Home, at the same location. In 1973, Mr. Ferguson died.
In 1971, Lee constructed a new funeral home on the same location’s parking lot and proceeded to tear down the house on “I” Street in order to make a complete parking lot. In 2004, a substantial addition was made to the parking lot by eliminating another residence.
In the late 1980’s, Robert E. Lee II, son of Robert Lee, joined Ferguson-Lee Funeral Home as a Funeral Director and later Manager, until his death on January 14, 2001.
On December 1, 2016, Mr. Robert Lee and his wife Marjorie sold the funeral home to Bedford residents, Phil and Amy (Hanson) Thorne and Derek C. and Abby (Thorne) George. In November of 2017, Thorne-George purchased Burkholder Chapel in Seymour and in June of 2022 Derek and Abby took full ownership of the Queen-Lee Chapel and Phil and Amy took ownership Ferguson-Lee and Burkholder Chapels.
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Amy Hanson Thorne Owner
Born in Bedford and raised just to the west in the small town of Owensburg, Amy is the daughter of the late Joe Hanson, the late Kathleen Schumacher Combs and Billy Combs. She graduated from Eastern Greene High School in 1983 and excelled in all sports, especially basketball, volleyball and track. She also spent a lot of time playing softball in the Oolitic leagues while growing up. In 1986 Amy married lifelong Bedford resident Phil Thorne. The two of raised their three children in Bedford and also began serving local churches in various capacities while owning a business. In 2016 they purchased Ferguson-Lee Chapel in Bedford and in 2017 they acquired Burkholder Chapel in Seymour. She spends her time working at the funeral homes, tending to their hobby farm, and loving on her grandchildren. Phil and Amy attend First Baptist Church where Amy is active in the music ministry.Amy has a compassionate heart and wants to serve the families of southern Indiana.
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Phil Thorne Owner/Staff Minister
Phil Thorne is the President of Thorne-George Family Funeral Homes, Inc. A Bedford area business owner and retired Pastor after over 30 years of ministry, Phil and his wife Amy have lived in Bedford all of their married life. They attend the First Baptist Church in Bedford.Phil and Amy have three children who are all married, and seven grandchildren who all live in Bedford. They enjoy living on their small mini-farm where they have cattle, mini-donkeys, goats, chickens and horses in addition to three dogs and a cat.Phil loves serving the people of Southern Indiana and helping them during their most difficult times. Not only did he serve as a Pastor, he also served as a Chaplain for the Lawrence County Sheriffs Department for nearly 20 years. He is also a licensed Life, Accident and Health Insurance Agent. Helping people during times of crisis brings him a sense of fulfillment. As Staff Minister, he is available to help officiate services if requested.
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Stephen Underwood Licensed Funeral Director
The longest active and continual serving funeral director in Bedford, Steve has been in the funeral business for over 50 years and started with Ferguson-Lee in 1972. He was born in Orange County and was President of his graduating class at Orleans High School. Shortly after high school he began working at Ferguson-Lee Funeral Home and most of his career has been spent serving the families of Lawrence and Martin Counties with both Ferguson-Lee and Queen-Lee. Steve is also a licensed life and health insurance agent. He is our in-house expert on prearrangements and is wonderful at guiding you through the arrangement process. Steve has a heart for helping those in their time of need as well as to help them prepare ahead of time for when that unavoidable day comes.
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Michael Clark Licensed Funeral Director
A licensed funeral director for over 25 years, Michael was born in Bedford and has been with Ferguson-Lee since 2011. He is the son of the late Terry and the late Cathy Clark and is married to the former Kelly Kirkman, also a Bedford native. Michael is a graduate of Vincennes University and served in the U.S. Army for five years. We honor his service to our country! Michael and Kelly are members of First Baptist Church in Bedford and are the parents of three daughters and one son which is deceased.Michael is passionate about helping during the most difficult of days and wants to make those days as easy as possible.
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Buddy Fletcher Licensed Funeral Director
Buddy has been serving families for over 40 years and has been a part of Thorne-George Family Funeral Homes since 2018. He graduated from the Mortuary Science program at Cypress College in 1984. He has served as a licensed funeral director, embalmer and is the managing director at Burkholder Chapel in Seymour. Buddy and his wife Amy have been blessed with six children. They cherish every moment spent with their family. Together they enjoy attending The Pointe Church in Seymour. They serve both the Seymour and Jackson County communities at Burkholder Chapel as well as Lawrence County at Ferguson-Lee Chapel in Bedford.
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Jan Siepler Accounting/Administrator
A Wisconsin native, Jan has been with Ferguson-Lee for over 25 years. She is married to Randy and they have three adult children and several grandchildren that they dearly love. Jan is a member of Saint John's Episcopal Church and is active in the community. She makes sure our records are complete and up to date at all times
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Rick Kelley Facilities Manager & Funeral Assistant
A Springville resident, Rick is most well known for his former role as Principal/Administrator at the Springville Christian School and his involvement with Life Tabernacle in Springville. Rick is married to Star Kelley and his experience in ministry makes him the perfect fit for helping people at Ferguson-Lee.
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Jacy Thorne Office Manager/Funeral Assistant
Raised in the community of Pinhook here in Lawrence County, Jacy is the one you will usually see first when you visit our office. Always ready to lend a hand and compassionate in nature, you will find her to be a great help no matter your need. Jacy is married to Caleb Thorne and they have their first child that was born in September 2023.
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Nina Doan Aftercare/Funeral Attendant
Caring for you after your loss is what Nina does best! She wants to make sure that after the funeral you know you are still cared about. You will also find her at the door greeting people at many of the visitations we have. Nina is married to Richard Doan and attends the Hillcrest Christian Church.
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Keith Thompson Funeral Assistant/Transportation
From Springville, Keith is known to many around the areas as a most caring Pastor. He leads the Free Pentecostal Holiness Church in Little Cincinnati and is married to the former Sheila Bailey. Keith is one of the most genuinely caring people you will ever meet. While he works with us at many funerals assisting in any way he can, in his transportation role he is one that goes to the place of death and takes the deceased into our care. Keith cares deeply for people and fits this position perfectly!
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Rick Leach Transportation/Funeral Attendant
Rick and his wife Laura make their home in Oolitic and Rick serves as the Minister at Central Church of Christ in Bedford. In his role at Ferguson-Lee Rick responds to the place of death to take the deceased into our care. He also assists as needed at funerals.
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Phillip Collier Transportation
Phillip and his wife Katie are active members of Free Methodist Church and volunteer extensively in the Celebrate Recovery program. Phillip is involved in the transportation aspect of Ferguson-Lee.
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Caleb Thorne Funeral Attendant
While his full-time job is as a Land Broker for farms and hunting property, Caleb assists at Ferguson-Lee in any way needed. His wife Jacy is our office manager and they are expecting their first child in September.
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Patrick Fields Transportation
Patrick is an EMT with Lifeline Ambulance Service and works in transportation at Ferguson-Lee. He is also a Firefighter/EMT with the Oolitic Volunteer Fire Department.
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Luke Stultz Transportation/Funeral Attendant
Luke and his wife Keri attend Hillcrest Christian Church in Bedford and they own His Hands Home Services. Luke is active with the Emmaus Community where he volunteers. Luke assists with funerals as needed and his main responsibility is in transportation.
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Jana Reed Funeral Attendant
Jana retired from IU Health Bloomington Hospital after many years working the front desk. She now works as an attendant at funeral visitations and funerals as needed..
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Anthony Webb Funeral Attendant
Anthony assists Ferguson-Lee as an attendant at funerals and visitations. He and his wife Marci own Webb Construction and they are heavily involved with Faith Mission Church.
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Robert E. Lee Consultant/Licensed Funeral Director
Mr. Lee along with his wife Marge owned Ferguson-Lee for over 50 years before retiring and selling it in 2016. Bob is still a licensed funeral director with the firm, but serves primarily as a consultant and friend to the staff. His wisdom is valued and it is an honor to continue the tradition of excellence that he established.
