Lenox IA Funeral Homes
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Heart-felt tributes to honor a dear friend or loved one who has passed away
300 North Main Street
Lenox, IA 50851
(641) 782-6555
300 North Main Street
Lenox, IA 50851
(641) 333-2535
124 South Main Street
Lenox, IA 50851
(641) 333-4501
Lenox IA Obituaries and Death Notices
Monday, April 03, 2017Quebecor World after 20 years of employment. Billy was a U.S. Army Veteran serving in the Vietnam War, where he received the Bronze Star Medal. He was also a former member of Lenox Baptist Church and West Dyersburg Church of Christ.??Services will be at 3 p.m. today in the chapel of Dyersburg Funeral Home with Mr. Rick Crawford officiating. ??The family will receive visitors from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. today at Dyersburg Funeral Home.??Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Linda S. Wilson; a son, Shane Wilson and wife, Jennifer; a daughter, Angela Jenkins and husband, Neal; eight grandchildren, April Porchia Wilson, Derek Heath Wilson, Tyler Shane Wilson, Destiny Christina Harris, Lane Oneal Harris, Chelsea Dawn Smith, Madison Paige Wilson and Hannah Jenkins; a brother, James "Dooner" Wilson and wife, Lisa; four great-grandchildren, twins Ryleigh and Kyleigh Lowery, Emmie Wilson and Rylee Wilson; and several nieces and nephews.??Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Nina Jo Wilson Golloday.??Honorary pallbearers will be April Wilson, Derek Wilson, Tyler Wilson, Destiny Harris, Lane Harris, Chelsea Smith, Madison Wilson and Hannah Jenkins.Online condolences for the Wilson Family may be sent to our website at www.dyersburgfuneralhome.net.
Monday, February 27, 2017Michael Davies for 28 years and loving mother to Lauren Davies for 15 years. She was a devoted daughter to her mother, Rita Madison. Terri is also survived by her sister, Stacy Lenox (Toliver) of Spotsylvania and a brother, Glen Madison (Mayte) of New York.She was a homemaker after Lauren was born, with a total commitment to raising and nurturing her child. Terri previously worked at Intuit, Spotsylvania County, and the Stafford County School Board office. She was a member of Faith Baptist Church. Terri loved Jesus, family time, encouraging others, and visiting new places. She cherished being a mother, spending time with her mother, and spending time with her many close friends.A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 2 at Faith Baptist Church.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, South Atlantic Division, 4240 Park Place Ct., Glen Allen, VA 23060.Online guestbook at covenantfuneralservice.com.#ndn-video-player-3.ndn_embedded .ndn_floatContainer { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }FUNERALSBerry, Olive Dye: Feb. 28, 10 a.m., Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.Cason Jr., Hugh E.: Feb. 28, 6 p.m., Storke Funeral Home-Nash & Slaw Chapel, Colonial Beach.Comstock, Frances: Feb. 27, 11 a.m., Zoan Baptist Church Cemetery, Fredericksburg. Found and Sons Funeral Chapels, Fredericksburg.Davies, Terri L.: Mar. 2, 2 p.m., Faith Baptist Church, Fredericksburg. Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.Douglass, Christopher A.: Mar. 1, 10 a.m., Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.Hawkins, Regina M.: Feb. 28, 12 p.m., Covenant Funeral Service, F...
Monday, February 20, 2017Kelley was at once inclusive and exclusive to the Black Arts Movement. Kelley, 79, joined the ancestors Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Lenox Hill Hospital. According to a statement from his family, Kelley had been on dialysis for 18 years, after bladder cancer caused his kidneys to fail. He had a leg amputated because of circulatory issues in 2009, but none of these health issues kept him from fulfilling his teaching assignments in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College twice a week.Born Nov. 1, 1937, Kelley was the son of William Melvin Kelley Sr. who was an editor at the Amsterdam News from 1922 to 1934. He grew up in the North Bronx and attended Fieldston School in Riverdale. As a student at Harvard University in 1956, his aim was to become a lawyer, but his gift as a storyteller was hard to suppress and he switched his major to English. Under the guidance of John Hawkes and poet Archibald McLeish, Kelley burnished his writing skills, and his short story “The Poker Party” won Harvard’s Dana Reed Prize. So strong was the compulsion to write that he left Harvard six months short of a degree and devoted himself to writing full time, an activity that resulted in his first novel, “A Different Drummer,” in 1962. Two years later, “Dancers on th...
Sunday, February 12, 2017December 24, 1937 in Dyer County, TN to the late John Wesley Owens and the late Lillie Mae Johnston Owens. Dalmus was retired with the maintenance department from Ermco and was a member of Lenox Baptist Church.Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the chapel of Dyersburg Funeral Home with the Rev. Don Williams, the Rev. Rudy Ring and the Rev. Les Melton officiating. Burial will be in Dyer County Memorial Gardens.The Owens Family will receive visitors from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at Dyersburg Funeral Home.Survivors include his son, Steve Owens and wife, Nancy, of Lenox; a daughter, Sandy Owens Tharpe and husband, Eddie, of Newbern; seven grandchildren, Lee Ann Work and husband, Shane, of Dyersburg, Holly Ray and husband, Josh, of Ripley, Jason Owens and wife, Amanda, of Finley, Callie Coats and husband, Brandon, of Yorkville, Tyler Tharpe of Millwood, KY, Brittany Permenter and husband, Randall, of Finley and Randall Owens of Finley; eleven great-grandchildren; and two relatives who were like brothers, Johnny Underwood of Water Valley, MS and Odie Staggs of Lenox.In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy Melton Owens; a son, Randy Owens; two sisters, Lorene Melton and Luvon Zales; and four brothers, Earl W. Owens, James Floyd Owens, Melvin Owens and Oleander Owens.Pallbearers will be David Haddock, Donald Melton, Brandon Coats, Jason Owens, Bob Veal and Shane Work.Online condolences for the Owens Family may be sent to our website at www.dyersburgfuneralhome.net.Alicia Yarbro Cutler, 63, of Dyersburg died Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at St. Francis Hospital, Bartlett.Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Curry Funeral Home.Lawrence Taylor, of Dyersburg, died Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at his residence.Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Curry Funeral Home.
Monday, January 09, 2017Services pending. Chapman-Black.Fort GibsonMartin, Jim H. Jr., 81, concrete construction superintendent, died Sunday. Service noon Thursday, Fort Gibson Church of Christ. Clifford D. Garrett.OkmulgeeLenox, Claude Richard “Dick,” 89, car salesman, died Friday. Visitation 5-7 p.m. Thursday, McClendon-Winters Funeral Home, Morris, and service 2 p.m. Friday, First United Methodist Church, Morris.Sand SpringsEberle, Ronnie Alvin, 66, drywall contractor, died Sunday. Service 11 a.m. Monday, Sand Springs Christian Fellowship Church. Dillon Marler Dighton.SkiatookPond, Kenneth Melvin, 90, mail carrier, died Saturday in Tulsa. Visitation 6-8 p.m. Tuesday and service 2 p.m. Wednesday, both at Sien-Shelton Funeral Home.WilburtonMcAlester, Monte Ray, 61, died Wednesday. Service 2 p.m. Friday, Wilburton Church of Christ. Jones-Harkins.Death notice policyDeath notices are $55 and include basic information about the deceased: the person’s name, age, occupation, date of death, place of death, visitation and service information. They are available only to funeral homes. Funeral homes can submit death notices by e-mail to obits@tulsaworld.com, by fax at 918-581-8353 until 8 p.m. daily or by phone at 918-581-8347 from 4 to 8 p.m.Circle of LifeIn an effort to honor those who have donated either organs, eyes or tissue, the Tulsa World is participating in the "Circle of Life" campaign sponsored by the Global Organization for Organ Donation (GOOD).If your loved one was a donor, please inform the funeral director if you would like to have the "Circle of Life" logo placed in his or her listing.
Monday, January 09, 2017Central Ohio musicians and fans are mourning singer Dwight Lenox, a staple of central Ohio's jazz scene for 25 years.“He was a musician's musician,” said Lenox's pianist, Tony Hagood. “His voice was spectacular. It was really a gift to listen to him.”Lenox, who died of heart failure on Dec. 15 at age 71, could effortlessly deliver Frank Sinatra jazz standards and Lou Rawls soul. But musicians say Lenox's true gift was his ability to turn songs into his own through his smooth, strong tenor.“He was a wonderful singer and communicator,” said Ray Eubanks, the former Columbus Jazz Orchestra leader who made Lenox a regular guest performer in the 1990s. “It’s like people who can read poetry. Dwight could sing a song and let the song speak through him.”Lenox was born in Kansas City three weeks after the end of World War II, but he spent his childhood in New York and Los Angeles. After a stint as a medic in the Air Force, he took a job selling Clairol products, and that eventually landed him in Columbus in the mid-1980s.While working as a hair stylist...
Monday, December 26, 2016Jottings." Jari worked as a writer/reporter/editor for several newspapers including the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Chicago Tribune, Evansville Courier, Champaign News-Gazette, Lincoln-Way Sun and New Lenox Community Reporter.Her passion for journalism started as a teen when she worked summers for the Marion Daily Republican. While working for the Joliet Herald she wrote a book, "A Dozen Knights and Griffins," in tribute to the Lincoln-Way High School District.She met and interviewed many celebrities, including presidents and their wives, political figures and many more. This includes a close relationship and friendship with movie critic Roger Ebert, with whom she shared a special relationship throughout their careers.After a 53-year career spanning several states, Jari returned to Marion where she was involved in many organizations. She served as past vice president for the Federated Woman's Club of Marion and the Southern Illinois District 25 Women's Club.She joined the Southern Illinois Writers Guild and her memberships included the Marion Cultural and Civic Center Foundation Board, Suzanne Stuckey Mission Circle, Deborah Circle of Zion Church and Marion First Baptist Church.Although Jari never married or had any children of her own, she had close family members whom she loved, cherished and enjoyed spending time with; and special caregiver and friend Joann Pearce and her childhood friends Ursula Richey, Claire Giles, Ann Schafle Trask, Betsy Hendrick and Esta Mae Fowler.She was preceded by her parents; Haskell Hunter, who was like a second mother; and cousins, Charlotte Hilliard, Janet Coats, Christine Mondus, Don Pearce and Debbie Clanahan.The f...
Monday, September 26, 2016Sometimes they are called to clear a meth lab.“When people ask me what I do, they say, ‘Wow,’ and then they get really interested,” said Dan Reynolds, a lieutenant in the New Lenox Fire Protection District in suburban Chicago who started Chicago Crime Scene Cleanup in 2007 with his wife, Kelly, to supplement his income. “But I don’t think they understand what all goes into it. They don’t understand the emotional side of it.”Potential clients are enduring the worst time of their lives, cleaners say.“Nobody calls me on a good day,” Reynolds said. “Trying to understand what they’re going through is a big part of it.”The processWhen a cleaner arrives on a site, bodies are gone but the dreadful signs of what happened remain, including body fluids and matter on floors, walls and ceilings. Insects, rodents, feces and overwhelming odor also can be present.Reynolds recalled a job several years ago, when he was called to a murder scene in a third-floor apartment on Chicago’s South Side. The victim had been dead for several days, during which time the sink overflowed, flooding the third-floor unit and apartments below it.“We were out there for a couple weeks,” Reynolds said.Muir handled a recent, notorious crime scene: the murders of six family members in a brick bungalow in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood Feb. 2. Five employees worked for 12 hours to restore the home, Muir said.At a church service for the victims, Diego Uribe, a relative, hugged Muir and praised him for cleaning the home, Muir recalled. About three months later, Uribe and his girlfriend were charged with the killings.“I was dumbfounded,” Muir said.Both pleaded not guilty in June and are scheduled to return to court Sept. 14.Graphic scenes can crowd the minds of cleaners, and the most jarring of those images involve child victims, Reynolds and Muir said.“You have to be really good at removing yourself from the situation,” said Reynolds, 42. “Once you put it in terms that you’re there to do a job and help the family, it becomes a little easier.”Muir, 48, said he copes with the most nightmarish scenes by visualizing how loved ones of the victim want the room to look after his work — as if the victim never occupied it.“That basically takes me right out of it,” he said. “You gotta go back to always helping first.”A growing industryCrime- and trauma-scene cleaning companies trace their roots to the early 1990s, said Andrew Yurchuck, president of the American Bio Recovery Association, an industry trade group. In the early days, a dozen or so companies existed, he said. Today “500 to 800 companies s...
Lenox News
Monday, April 03, 2017Quebecor World after 20 years of employment. Billy was a U.S. Army Veteran serving in the Vietnam War, where he received the Bronze Star Medal. He was also a former member of Lenox Baptist Church and West Dyersburg Church of Christ.??Services will be at 3 p.m. today in the chapel of Dyersburg Funeral Home with Mr. Rick Crawford officiating. ??The family will receive visitors from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. today at Dyersburg Funeral Home.??Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Linda S. Wilson; a son, Shane Wilson and wife, Jennifer; a daughter, Angela Jenkins and husband, Neal; eight grandchildren, April Porchia Wilson, Derek Heath Wilson, Tyler Shane Wilson, Destiny Christina Harris, Lane Oneal Harris, Chelsea Dawn Smith, Madison Paige Wilson and Hannah Jenkins; a brother, James "Dooner" Wilson and wife, Lisa; four great-grandchildren, twins Ryleigh and Kyleigh Lowery, Emmie Wilson and Rylee Wilson; and several nieces and nephews.??Besides his parents, he was preceded in death by a sister, Nina Jo Wilson Golloday.??Honorary pallbearers will be April Wilson, Derek Wilson, Tyler Wilson, Destiny Harris, Lane Harris, Chelsea Smith, Madison Wilson and Hannah Jenkins.Online condolences for the Wilson Family may be sent to our website at www.dyersburgfuneralhome.net.
Monday, February 27, 2017Michael Davies for 28 years and loving mother to Lauren Davies for 15 years. She was a devoted daughter to her mother, Rita Madison. Terri is also survived by her sister, Stacy Lenox (Toliver) of Spotsylvania and a brother, Glen Madison (Mayte) of New York.She was a homemaker after Lauren was born, with a total commitment to raising and nurturing her child. Terri previously worked at Intuit, Spotsylvania County, and the Stafford County School Board office. She was a member of Faith Baptist Church. Terri loved Jesus, family time, encouraging others, and visiting new places. She cherished being a mother, spending time with her mother, and spending time with her many close friends.A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 2 at Faith Baptist Church.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, South Atlantic Division, 4240 Park Place Ct., Glen Allen, VA 23060.Online guestbook at covenantfuneralservice.com.#ndn-video-player-3.ndn_embedded .ndn_floatContainer { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; }FUNERALSBerry, Olive Dye: Feb. 28, 10 a.m., Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.Cason Jr., Hugh E.: Feb. 28, 6 p.m., Storke Funeral Home-Nash & Slaw Chapel, Colonial Beach.Comstock, Frances: Feb. 27, 11 a.m., Zoan Baptist Church Cemetery, Fredericksburg. Found and Sons Funeral Chapels, Fredericksburg.Davies, Terri L.: Mar. 2, 2 p.m., Faith Baptist Church, Fredericksburg. Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.Douglass, Christopher A.: Mar. 1, 10 a.m., Covenant Funeral Service, Fredericksburg.Hawkins, Regina M.: Feb. 28, 12 p.m., Covenant Funeral Service, F...
Monday, February 20, 2017Kelley was at once inclusive and exclusive to the Black Arts Movement. Kelley, 79, joined the ancestors Wednesday, Feb. 1, at Lenox Hill Hospital. According to a statement from his family, Kelley had been on dialysis for 18 years, after bladder cancer caused his kidneys to fail. He had a leg amputated because of circulatory issues in 2009, but none of these health issues kept him from fulfilling his teaching assignments in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College twice a week.Born Nov. 1, 1937, Kelley was the son of William Melvin Kelley Sr. who was an editor at the Amsterdam News from 1922 to 1934. He grew up in the North Bronx and attended Fieldston School in Riverdale. As a student at Harvard University in 1956, his aim was to become a lawyer, but his gift as a storyteller was hard to suppress and he switched his major to English. Under the guidance of John Hawkes and poet Archibald McLeish, Kelley burnished his writing skills, and his short story “The Poker Party” won Harvard’s Dana Reed Prize. So strong was the compulsion to write that he left Harvard six months short of a degree and devoted himself to writing full time, an activity that resulted in his first novel, “A Different Drummer,” in 1962. Two years later, “Dancers on th...
Sunday, February 12, 2017December 24, 1937 in Dyer County, TN to the late John Wesley Owens and the late Lillie Mae Johnston Owens. Dalmus was retired with the maintenance department from Ermco and was a member of Lenox Baptist Church.Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the chapel of Dyersburg Funeral Home with the Rev. Don Williams, the Rev. Rudy Ring and the Rev. Les Melton officiating. Burial will be in Dyer County Memorial Gardens.The Owens Family will receive visitors from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at Dyersburg Funeral Home.Survivors include his son, Steve Owens and wife, Nancy, of Lenox; a daughter, Sandy Owens Tharpe and husband, Eddie, of Newbern; seven grandchildren, Lee Ann Work and husband, Shane, of Dyersburg, Holly Ray and husband, Josh, of Ripley, Jason Owens and wife, Amanda, of Finley, Callie Coats and husband, Brandon, of Yorkville, Tyler Tharpe of Millwood, KY, Brittany Permenter and husband, Randall, of Finley and Randall Owens of Finley; eleven great-grandchildren; and two relatives who were like brothers, Johnny Underwood of Water Valley, MS and Odie Staggs of Lenox.In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy Melton Owens; a son, Randy Owens; two sisters, Lorene Melton and Luvon Zales; and four brothers, Earl W. Owens, James Floyd Owens, Melvin Owens and Oleander Owens.Pallbearers will be David Haddock, Donald Melton, Brandon Coats, Jason Owens, Bob Veal and Shane Work.Online condolences for the Owens Family may be sent to our website at www.dyersburgfuneralhome.net.Alicia Yarbro Cutler, 63, of Dyersburg died Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at St. Francis Hospital, Bartlett.Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Curry Funeral Home.Lawrence Taylor, of Dyersburg, died Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at his residence.Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time and will be announced later by Curry Funeral Home.
Monday, January 09, 2017Services pending. Chapman-Black.Fort GibsonMartin, Jim H. Jr., 81, concrete construction superintendent, died Sunday. Service noon Thursday, Fort Gibson Church of Christ. Clifford D. Garrett.OkmulgeeLenox, Claude Richard “Dick,” 89, car salesman, died Friday. Visitation 5-7 p.m. Thursday, McClendon-Winters Funeral Home, Morris, and service 2 p.m. Friday, First United Methodist Church, Morris.Sand SpringsEberle, Ronnie Alvin, 66, drywall contractor, died Sunday. Service 11 a.m. Monday, Sand Springs Christian Fellowship Church. Dillon Marler Dighton.SkiatookPond, Kenneth Melvin, 90, mail carrier, died Saturday in Tulsa. Visitation 6-8 p.m. Tuesday and service 2 p.m. Wednesday, both at Sien-Shelton Funeral Home.WilburtonMcAlester, Monte Ray, 61, died Wednesday. Service 2 p.m. Friday, Wilburton Church of Christ. Jones-Harkins.Death notice policyDeath notices are $55 and include basic information about the deceased: the person’s name, age, occupation, date of death, place of death, visitation and service information. They are available only to funeral homes. Funeral homes can submit death notices by e-mail to obits@tulsaworld.com, by fax at 918-581-8353 until 8 p.m. daily or by phone at 918-581-8347 from 4 to 8 p.m.Circle of LifeIn an effort to honor those who have donated either organs, eyes or tissue, the Tulsa World is participating in the "Circle of Life" campaign sponsored by the Global Organization for Organ Donation (GOOD).If your loved one was a donor, please inform the funeral director if you would like to have the "Circle of Life" logo placed in his or her listing.
Monday, January 09, 2017Central Ohio musicians and fans are mourning singer Dwight Lenox, a staple of central Ohio's jazz scene for 25 years.“He was a musician's musician,” said Lenox's pianist, Tony Hagood. “His voice was spectacular. It was really a gift to listen to him.”Lenox, who died of heart failure on Dec. 15 at age 71, could effortlessly deliver Frank Sinatra jazz standards and Lou Rawls soul. But musicians say Lenox's true gift was his ability to turn songs into his own through his smooth, strong tenor.“He was a wonderful singer and communicator,” said Ray Eubanks, the former Columbus Jazz Orchestra leader who made Lenox a regular guest performer in the 1990s. “It’s like people who can read poetry. Dwight could sing a song and let the song speak through him.”Lenox was born in Kansas City three weeks after the end of World War II, but he spent his childhood in New York and Los Angeles. After a stint as a medic in the Air Force, he took a job selling Clairol products, and that eventually landed him in Columbus in the mid-1980s.While working as a hair stylist...
Monday, December 26, 2016Jottings." Jari worked as a writer/reporter/editor for several newspapers including the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Chicago Tribune, Evansville Courier, Champaign News-Gazette, Lincoln-Way Sun and New Lenox Community Reporter.Her passion for journalism started as a teen when she worked summers for the Marion Daily Republican. While working for the Joliet Herald she wrote a book, "A Dozen Knights and Griffins," in tribute to the Lincoln-Way High School District.She met and interviewed many celebrities, including presidents and their wives, political figures and many more. This includes a close relationship and friendship with movie critic Roger Ebert, with whom she shared a special relationship throughout their careers.After a 53-year career spanning several states, Jari returned to Marion where she was involved in many organizations. She served as past vice president for the Federated Woman's Club of Marion and the Southern Illinois District 25 Women's Club.She joined the Southern Illinois Writers Guild and her memberships included the Marion Cultural and Civic Center Foundation Board, Suzanne Stuckey Mission Circle, Deborah Circle of Zion Church and Marion First Baptist Church.Although Jari never married or had any children of her own, she had close family members whom she loved, cherished and enjoyed spending time with; and special caregiver and friend Joann Pearce and her childhood friends Ursula Richey, Claire Giles, Ann Schafle Trask, Betsy Hendrick and Esta Mae Fowler.She was preceded by her parents; Haskell Hunter, who was like a second mother; and cousins, Charlotte Hilliard, Janet Coats, Christine Mondus, Don Pearce and Debbie Clanahan.The f...
Monday, September 26, 2016Sometimes they are called to clear a meth lab.“When people ask me what I do, they say, ‘Wow,’ and then they get really interested,” said Dan Reynolds, a lieutenant in the New Lenox Fire Protection District in suburban Chicago who started Chicago Crime Scene Cleanup in 2007 with his wife, Kelly, to supplement his income. “But I don’t think they understand what all goes into it. They don’t understand the emotional side of it.”Potential clients are enduring the worst time of their lives, cleaners say.“Nobody calls me on a good day,” Reynolds said. “Trying to understand what they’re going through is a big part of it.”The processWhen a cleaner arrives on a site, bodies are gone but the dreadful signs of what happened remain, including body fluids and matter on floors, walls and ceilings. Insects, rodents, feces and overwhelming odor also can be present.Reynolds recalled a job several years ago, when he was called to a murder scene in a third-floor apartment on Chicago’s South Side. The victim had been dead for several days, during which time the sink overflowed, flooding the third-floor unit and apartments below it.“We were out there for a couple weeks,” Reynolds said.Muir handled a recent, notorious crime scene: the murders of six family members in a brick bungalow in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood Feb. 2. Five employees worked for 12 hours to restore the home, Muir said.At a church service for the victims, Diego Uribe, a relative, hugged Muir and praised him for cleaning the home, Muir recalled. About three months later, Uribe and his girlfriend were charged with the killings.“I was dumbfounded,” Muir said.Both pleaded not guilty in June and are scheduled to return to court Sept. 14.Graphic scenes can crowd the minds of cleaners, and the most jarring of those images involve child victims, Reynolds and Muir said.“You have to be really good at removing yourself from the situation,” said Reynolds, 42. “Once you put it in terms that you’re there to do a job and help the family, it becomes a little easier.”Muir, 48, said he copes with the most nightmarish scenes by visualizing how loved ones of the victim want the room to look after his work — as if the victim never occupied it.“That basically takes me right out of it,” he said. “You gotta go back to always helping first.”A growing industryCrime- and trauma-scene cleaning companies trace their roots to the early 1990s, said Andrew Yurchuck, president of the American Bio Recovery Association, an industry trade group. In the early days, a dozen or so companies existed, he said. Today “500 to 800 companies s...
