Darling Funeral Home in 1922. The firm was first located in the rear of the building located at the corner of 12th and East Adams Streets. This location was rented and served for several years until W. Darling was able to relocate to the corner of 15th and East Jefferson Streets. This was an improved location and was larger quarters. The firm was struggling to survive the hard years of the depress
ion and strong competition from four (4) other firms. The volume was low, the sales were modest and collections were slow. The firm survived by the sheer will of the owner who was able to cut expenses to the bare minimum and who lived very modestly himself. During the late 1930's, Mr. Darling was able to purchase the first good location for the funeral home. This was located in the 700 block of East Levee Street. This was an old residence which had fallen to disrepair. It was given a cleaning, some minor repairs and the funeral home was opened there. Other remodeling went on as time passed and additions were added as the growth of the business justified them. In 1957, Richard Mouser became associated with the firm as an apprentice funeral director-embalmer. Mouser purchased one-half interest in the firm from his father-in-law, W. Darling. In 1966, after extensive planning, the firm moved into the present quarters, which were built from the ground up for the purpose. The firm has continued to grown in the new location. In 1969, Richard Mouser purchased the balance of the business from W.A. On July 1, 1987, Richard and Joyce Mouser sold the funeral home to Paragon Family Services of Houston, TX. In late 1989, Paragon Family Services merged with the Loewen Group. In May 2007, Darling-Mouser Funeral Home became an independently owned funeral home. During the summer of 2000, the original building underwent some major remodeling. The entire funeral home was given an exterior paint job. However, the bulk of the renovation was done to the interior of the funeral home, namely the front lobby, the East chapel (the oldest and largest of the three chapels) the employee lounge, the staterooms and the arrangement offices. Darling-Mouser currently faces competition from five other funeral homes and still maintains a 48 percent market share. Our professional staff has nearly 40 years of combined experience and both management and staff are local people who understand the traditions so important to our community. We have built a reputation for providing the best in funeral care in the greater Brownsville and surrounding areas. We are firmly committed to maintaining the same high quality and professional service you've come to expect from us. We have three beautiful chapels to serve you, each one with its own seating capacity and design to suit each family's needs. We have ample parking facilities with accommodations for our physically challenged visitors. We take great pride in participating in community service such as local service organizations, Career Days in public schools and our own annual Tree of Remembrance Celebration in December. Many people don't realize that funeral arrangements can be made in advance, saving surviving family members the overwhelming stress associated with making decision for final arrangements. That is why Darling-Mouser Funeral Home provides a complete line of pre-arranged services for different kinds of funeral arrangements as well as expert consultation. Anyone on our staff will be happy to explain more about the benefit of these products and services. We offer funeral services and merchandise, cremation services and pre-arranged funeral services. We accept all pre-need plans from other funeral homes and we will be happy to review your policy at no charge.
