In 1948 Abb Smith and Lon Bates purchased from Floyd Thomas, the funeral home and insurance company. At that time the also purchased from Dr. Grissom his home, located at 1123 N. Jefferson and moved the funeral home, now called Smith-Bates Funeral Home. With a little remodeling Lon and Abb built the small funeral chapel & insurance office on the northside of the building. Not only did the funeral home conduct funerals, they also ran the ambulance service for the hospital. Buck Weems and Darrell Cooper bought into the funeral home changing the name to Smith-Bates-Cooper-Weems. A new chapel was built on the southside of the building in 1961. During the late 60's Abb Smith sold out his part of the firm, changing the name to Bates-Cooper- Weems. As the 70's & 80's came the funeral home saw more changes. As the Titus County Hospital grew, they took over the ambulance services. Lon Bates decided to sell his part of the funeral home and Buck Weems followed a few years later. At this time Billy Robinson bought into the firm, changing the name to Bates-Cooper- Robinson. Land was purchased during and the current facility was built south of Mount Pleasant. The new spacious funeral home opened in 1996. A few years later Kent Cooper bought in and Billy Robinson sold his part. In 2004 the funeral home made its current name change, Bates-Cooper-Sloan, with the newest partner Stuart Sloan. Over the years Bates-Cooper-Sloan has provided Mount Pleasant and Titus County the most caring and professional service. Our employees continue to provide the same loyal service today that Abb Smith and Lon Bates provided. Darrell Cooper is semi-retired, having served as a licensed Funeral Director/Embalmer for 52 years.
