About Us

Our Beginnings

The McLaurin Funeral Home was established in Reidsville, North Carolina in March, 1931 by Lorenzo H. McLaurin and his wife, Lillian Harrison McLaurin.

The original funeral home was located on Northwest Market Street. Several years later, the business was relocated to Northeast Market Street. Lorenzo and Lillian McLaurin were devoted members of St. Paul Methodist Church and were involved in numerous organizations as they endeavored to improve the quality of life of their friends and neighbors in the area.



Mrs. Lillian McLaurin assumed ownership and management of the business upon her husband's death in August, 1945. She extended her local activities to include professional involvement on the regional, state, and national levels. In 1959, she was elected the Woman of the Year by the National Funeral Directors and Embalmers Magazine, and was awarded Life Membership in the Funeral Directors and Morticians Association of North Carolina in 1974.

Due to declining health, Mrs. McLaurin retired in 1971, but continued to lend her expertise to the operation of the funeral home until she passed in August 1979.

McLaurin Funeral Home is the longest-serving business still standing and thriving from the original group of Black businesses on "The Block".