Established in 1899, Pleasant Andrew "P.A." Buntin established the first funeral home in the Texas Panhandle area. It was originally known as Buntin Funeral Home. Shortly after World War I, 27 year old Fred Buntin, P.A.'s son, came into the business in 1919 after attending Dallas School of Embalming. He and his father ran the funeral home until P.A. Buntin's death on December 1, 1941. Fred continued to operate the funeral home until 1945.
Fred then established partnership with Blackburn-Shaw Funeral Directors, an Amarillo firm, and they did their first funeral on February 12, 1945. The firm then was known as Blackburn-Shaw-Buntin Funeral Home. Dexter Todd was the managing partner and was involved in the business until it sold to Murphy-Spicer.
The funeral home later became Murphy-Spicer-Buntin Funeral Home in February of 1946. The Murphy-Spicer partnership consisted of J.W. Murphy & Bob Spicer and had locations in Clarendon, Memphis, Groom, and Hedley. During this period Fred Buntin passed away on July 12, 1946. The Buntin name dissolved in 1948 and was known then as Murphy-Spicer Funeral Home.
Before Mr. Murphy's death, the partnership later dissolved with the closing of a location in Hedley and Groom. J.W. Murphy assumed ownership of the Clarendon facility and Bob Spicer of the Memphis facility. Mr. Murphy passed away July 20, 1953. At this time, however, it was still known as Murphy-Spicer Funeral Home. The Spicer name dissolved in 1954 and became known as Murphy Funeral Home and was managed by Louise Payne, J.W.'s daughter.
Over the years, our funeral home has performed the services of Mrs. Mary Goodnight and the legendary Col. Charles Goodnight. Our hearse was also featured in the movie HUD which was filmed in Goodnight & Claude.
Our Beginnings
Delbert Robertson was a funeral director for Murphy Funeral Home for almost 10 years before obtaining a job with Blackburn-Shaw Funeral Directors in Amarillo in the mid 1960's. Delbert then came back home and worked again for Murphy Funeral Home. He then opened Clarendon Funeral Home in October 1973 which was located at 3rd & Jefferson (One block behind our current location).
In December 1973, Delbert Robertson along with Maurice Schooler and Mack Gordon, funeral directors from Amarillo, purchased the Murphy family interests and facility. Murphy Funeral Home and Clarendon Funeral Home ownerships combined and the name was changed to Schooler-Gordon-Robertson Funeral Directors. In 1975, Patrick Robertson, Delbert's son, graduated from mortuary school and joined the firm. In January 1977, Delbert and Patrick Robertson bought out Schooler-Gordon and the named changed to Robertson Funeral Directors. In October 2003, Chuck Robertson, Patrick's son, joined the firm.
