Mission Park: Press Release

The Next Century of Service

Mission Park Turns 100 with Major Plans to Reinvent Industry

Robert D. Tips Investing $40 Million In 5 Funeral Homes Across Bexar County
That Offer New Look, New Services

San Antonio, TX (May 2007) - The funeral industry has not changed much since Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries was founded in 1907. Funeral processions are no longer led by horse and carts, but funeral homes remain somber, often windowless buildings with one purpose. Although funeral costs are among the biggest expenses any American family will face, the percentage of people who plan ahead remains low.

Robert D. Tips sees an entirely different future for the family business. Funeral homes should be spacious and inviting places. Chapels should be equipped with cutting-edge technology that allows loved ones who can't attend to view services live over the Internet. There should be refreshments for the immediate family and a private room for them to gather before services.

Like a church, mosque or temple, a funeral chapel shouldn't just be a place to mourn and remember loved ones. It should be a multi-use building that celebrates the living as a backdrop for weddings, bar mitzvahs, christenings and even anniversary or birthday parties.

And people should be enticed to seek pre-need funeral arrangements, maybe with dinner and a complimentary stay at an upscale, boutique hotel.

"We should reward those who take it upon themselves to do one of the most responsible things in our lives," Tips says. "People shouldn't leave a family service counselor with paperwork and a plot - they should be given an opportunity to celebrate life."

These concepts are becoming reality as Mission Park invests $40 million over the next five years to build 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 as well.

These majestic four-level European-style facilities have been designed to bring something refreshing and new to the funeral industry - a respectful yet cheery atmosphere that takes advantage of cutting-edge technology and puts customer service first in every possible arena.

These may seem like revolutionary ideas for an industry that has struggled to keep up with the times. For Tips, who oversees the largest family-owned business of its kind in the Southwest, he's just doing what his customers have been asking for, and continuing to blaze the trial started by his great grandfather more than a century ago.

Texas Pioneers In The Industry

Will H. Chambers was an architect and builder by trade who founded the first perpetual care cemetery in the state of Texas, what is now Mission Park - South. Founded in 1907, Chambers initially purchased the beautiful, rolling landscape adjacent to the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park as a wedding present to his wife.

The lush property, which used to include land on both sides of the San Antonio River, is the resting place for some of the Alamo City's most historic families. Chambers' business partners, seeing the need for this type of business, quickly started the state's 2nd and 3rd perpetual care cemeteries, in Houston and Dallas, respectively.

Chambers wasn't the only pioneer in the funeral industry in Tips' family tree. His father and uncle introduced the concept of the six-door limousine for funeral processions, an idea that initially was ridiculed by competitors, but which is not an industry standard.

Now, Robert D. Tips is taking a big picture approach to revolutionizing the industry.

Mission Park Asks: What Can We Do Better?

"We started with surveys about five years ago, asking everyone from clients to family counselors to preachers and clergy to take part," Tips says. "There were many questions, but they all boiled down to this single inquiry: What's wrong with the way the funeral industry is run?"

The answers came quickly. Some families thought a private room with refreshments while they waited on the service would be a good idea. Members of the clergy also wanted a quiet space to prepare, and an elevated platform to address mourners.

What about the music? An organ is fine, but the instrument doesn't always reflect the musical tastes of the family or deceased. So Mission Park's new funeral chapels come with a bandstand area facing the audience for choirs, harpists, a small orchestra ensemble, or even a New Orleans jazz band.

Funerals can be unexpected affairs, and arranging for relatives to come to town for a memorial can be a taxing affair. Mission Park offers a one-of-a-kind funeral concierge service to help with everything from booking flights and hotels to removing mortal remains in another part of the United States, or in another country, and flying them to San Antonio via Mission Park-owned jet service MissionAir, the only service of its kind in South Texas.

There's much more. Kitchens designed by Club Giraud, San Antonio's most exclusive private club, will be in every funeral home, serving Starbucks coffee and Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. These are important amenities for catering events, such as weddings and parties. The funeral chapels have niche spaces and large halls that can accommodate gatherings of 10 to 600.

Mission Park has even added a wedding planner to its staff in anticipation of the demand. "We already do 60 to 70 weddings a year at Mission Park facilities, so by designing and promoting these new funeral and wedding chapels, we expect to see many more celebrations," Tips said.

The funeral chapels also will have cutting-edge video technology. LifeTheater is a new service in which pre-need customers will be encouraged to videotape major birthdays or other significant events, which will be produced into a memorial video to be shown on large, flat-panel screens in the Mission Park funeral chapel during services. The chapels also will be able to provide streaming video of services in progress for family members who cannot attend.

FINAL THOUGHTS, QUOTE FROM RDT

Mission Park has a long and proud history of personal service provided by the Tips family with deep roots in San Antonio and a deep commitment to upholding professional standards. Mission Park is the oldest continuously family operated funeral home and cemetery combination in Texas.

At Mission Park, it is our Mission to Care.