About Mission Park: Historical Timeline 1907 - 2007

1907

Robert Tips' Grandparents,
Father and Uncle

Will H. Chambers, an architect and builder by trade, purchases scenic rolling property adjacent to Mission Espada on the South Side of San Antonio as a wedding present to his wife, Clara Mahone Chambers.
Will H. Chambers opens Mission Burial Park, the first perpetual care cemetery in the state of Texas.

1917

Concern over the deteriorating condition of Espada Dam (built by Spanish Missionaries in the 1730s) prompts Will Chambers to order Mission Park workers into the San Antonio River for repairs to the structure.

1959

Mission Park purchases property in far northern Bexar County adjacent to land that years later will become The Dominion, an upscale and exclusive residential area.
Mission Park acquires Lockehill Cemetery on the site of an old stagecoach stop. The move prevents a competing cemetery from expanding into the area.

1960

Mission North Cemetery opens in far north Bexar County. To dedicate the property, Mission Park receives family permission to relocate a woman's remains from Mission Burial Park South mausoleum onto the grounds of Mission North.

1965

June 25: Mission Park opens a funeral home at Mission Burial Park South, the first funeral home-cemetery combination in South Texas. The goal is to provide families with one location, one phone call, for making all funeral arrangements.
The move angers owners of local funeral homes. Several boycott Mission Park cemeteries and unsuccessfully sue the company.

1970-72

Mission Park introduces the first six-door vehicle designed to keep families together for the ride to the cemetery.

1978

1984: Alamo Funeral Home joins the Mission Park family

August: Mission Park opens a second funeral home, Mission Park North on Cherry Ridge, near the Loop 410 and Interstate 10 West intersection.

1984

Robert D. Tips, son of Fred Tips, successfully bids against three other funeral industry companies for ownership of Mission Park. Robert D. Tips assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer.
Tips purchases the Alamo Funeral Home funeral home in San Antonio and incorporates it into the Mission Park family.
Robert D. Tips starts MTM Life Insurance Company, offering insurance for families who want to pre-arrange one or more funerals, with $200,000 in capital. The company is worth more than 2,000 times that value today.

1988

Mission Park purchases Davis Funeral Home (est. 1946), a small family-owned company that primarily served the community of Rosenberg, TX.
Mission Park purchases Greenlawn Memorial Park (est. 1953) in Rosenberg, TX. It includes a perpetual care cemetery and mausoleum.

1991

Following the successful model of pairing funeral homes with cemeteries, Mission Park invests in a new funeral home building on the grounds of the Greenlawn cemetery and relocates Davis Funeral Home, renaming the new property Davis-Greenlawn Funeral Chapel, Cemetery & Mausoleum.
The new, state-of-the-art facility serves the entire Fort Bend County area (Rosenberg, Richland, Sugarland, etc.)

1994

Mission Park opens Mission Retama, a cemetery exclusively for military veterans and their families, providing free burial for veterans and their spouses (savings of up to $10,000).
Service with full military honors includes flag draping, funeral honors "Taps" and helicopter or Air Force "fly by" from Randolph AFB (when available).
Mission Park adds two Gulfstream jets to its fleet of vehicles and opens MissionAir, a repatriation service for remains that need to be flown to or from San Antonio, TX to or from anywhere in the world.

1997

Mission Park opens Simplicity Funeral Home, offering low-cost options for funeral arrangements.

1999

Mission Park purchases La Paz Funeral Home, a competitor in low-cost funeral arrangements

2004: Mission Park purchases four San Antonio funeral homes - Brookehill, Dellcrest, Palm Heights & Oak Hills

2004

Mission Park purchases and takes over operation of four San Antonio funeral homes - Brookehill, Dellcrest, Palm Heights and Oak Hills.
Robert D. Tips purchases The Fairmount Hotel, a historic boutique property in downtown San Antonio. Plans for the hotel include using it as an incentive for pre-arranged funeral plans and to play host to funeral home directors who are considering using MTM Insurance as their referral agent of choice.

2006

Mission Park launches an incredibly ambitious plan to open five spacious, new state-of-the-art funeral homes across Bexar County, ranging in size from 20,000 to 40,000 square feet, and to open three new cemeteries.
The project represents an estimated $40 million investment and is expected to re-invent the funeral industry with innovations such as funeral service webcasts, a focus on weddings and baptisms, large meeting spaces, and full kitchens for special events.
Construction begins on the first of five planned new Mission Park funeral homes in Bexar County, Mission Stone Oak, at U.S. Hwy 281 North near Bulverde Road. A cemetery will be adjacent to the magnificent, European-style four-level funeral home.

2007

Robert D. Tips purchases North America Life Insurance Company of Texas based out of Austin, TX. The addition to MTM Insurance (Mission Park's pre-arranged funeral insurance company) creates the largest funeral insurance company in the Southwest, expected to bring more than 100 new jobs to San Antonio by 2008.