Stamp Out
Hunger food
drive—Page 2
The
Perez is the
new town
manager—
Page 3
Turning over a
New Leaf
—Page 7
SEGway News
Volume 1, Number 31
Serving South East Grant County
May 4-10, 2017
A Good News Ventures publication
Armes-Hunt purchases Jones-Smith Funeral Home
The Jones-Smith Funer-
al Home, which has been
serving the Upland com-
munity for over 60 years,
has been purchased this
month by Armes-Hunt Fu-
neral Homes.
Robert “Bob” S. Jones
started the Jones funeral
home in 1950 achieving
his life-long ambition, and
lived upstairs with his wife
Helen Spencer, operating
the business together as
they raised two children.
Bob was a dedicated and
well thought of funeral di-
rector with a sensitive heart
for those he served. After
serving the area for over
40 years, due to ill health,
he determined it was time
to pass the day-to-day op-
erations over to the next
generation. Bob and Helen
sold the firm to Dennis and
Teresa Smith in 1990 and
Bob continued to work
with Dennis until his death
October 11, 1994.
Dennis Smith graduated
from the Indiana College of
Mortuary Science in 1972
with an Associate’s Degree
and later graduated from
Indiana Wesleyan Univer-
sity with a B.S. in Busi-
ness. He married Teresa in
1980. After working many
years in funeral service and
business his life long am-
bition of owning his own
funeral home was realized
in 1990. They raised three
children upstairs in the fu-
neral home as did the Jones
before them. Teresa taught
nursing at I.U. School of
Nursing and Indiana Wes-
leyan University for many
years. Most recently she
served as Director of the
Health Center on the Up-
land Campus of Taylor
University until her medi-
cal leave in 2000. She bat-
tled cancer for over 3 years
and continued to work until
a few months before her
untimely death on August
5, 2000.
Dennis has been an ac-
tive member of the com-
munity, formerly serving
on the board of the Grant
County Community Foun-
dation. He is a member of
the Matthews Lions Club,
Upland Chamber of Com-
merce, Gideons Interna-
tional Hartford City Camp,
Matthews Chamber of
Commerce, and attends the
Upland Community Church
where he enjoys singing in
the Chancel Choir, and the
Epworth United Method-
ist Church, Matthews. He
has strongly supported the
Gilead Ministry of Grant
County, Pregnancy Help
Center of Grant County,
and Lightrider Ministries.
As Dennis was moving
towards retirement, it was
natural for him to approach
Gayle Armes with the pro-
posal to become the new
owners in Upland. “Dennis
and I have worked together
for many years,” says Gay-
le. “We have covered for
each other many times, and
we are close colleagues.”
Armes-Hunt
Funeral
Home and Cremation Ser-
vices was established in
1903 on the belief that fam-
ilies in grief should be min-
istered to with loving care.
Director, Gayle Armes is a
Grant County native and is
the fifth of seven children
and was raised on a farm
just outside of Jonesboro
where he and his siblings
milked cows, raised hogs,
and crop farmed. He at-
tributes his work ethic to
growing up and working
on his family farm. Gayle
and his wife purchased the
Hunt Funeral Home, Janu-
ary 1, 1998 from the Hunt
family. Gayle is a gradu-
ate of Mississinewa High
GROCERY
AND
VARIETY
STORE
CALL: 765-998-1111
Photos submitted
Pictured above are the staff of Armes-Hunt Funeral Services, including Gayle Arms (front row, at left). Armes-Hunt recently
purchased the Jones-Smith Funeral Home (pictured below) in Upland.
School, where he met his
wife of forty years and fel-
low Mississinewa gradu-
ate, Becky (Bradford).
After high school, Gayle
attended Indiana Wesleyan
University and graduated
from Indiana College of
Mortuary Science in 1975.
He and his wife have two
children, and six grand-
children. Gayle and his
wife are active members
of Fairmount Wesleyan
Church and he is a mem-
ber of the Fairmount Lions
Club. Armes-Hunt Funeral
Homes has locations in
Fairmount and Marion.
Taking over the location
in Upland, Gayle says he
is wanting to continue to
support the community in
every way that he and his
team can. Renee, Dennis
Smith’s daughter, will con-
tinue to work at the Upland
office in her capacity as ad-
ministrator, and the contact
details of the office have
remained the same. “We
are not planning to make
any major changes,” says
Gayle, “but want to con-
tinue the great work and
goodwill that Dennis and
his team have built in the
Upland community.” In
honor of this work, the cha-
pel at the Upland location
$
is now named the Jones-
Smith Chapel.
For information and as-
sistance, please
Armes-Hunt in
765-998-2101.
OPEN 7
DAYS
MON - SUN
8-9
80 E BERRY AVE
IN UPLAND PLAZA
contact
Upland