173 years strong and still growing

It wasn’t inevitable that John Ware would join his family’s firm of funeral directors. But when you’re seventh generation, the pull is hard to resist.

John, aged 23, gained first class BSc (Hons) degree in business management at the University of Surrey and worked for two years in London before returning to his Plymouth roots to join Walter C. Parson, a household name in the South West. He is now assistant to his father Stephen, the managing director, while his grandfather Graham is chairman of the company.

Walter C. Parson was established in 1842 at Stoke Climsland near Callington. It has, either by inheritance or acquisition, remained in the family over seven generations, and although now Plymouth-based, has grown to cover the South West. Entrepreneur Richard Walter Parson, a carpenter and joiner; set up the original firm, offering affordable individual funerals as opposed to the en masse burial services which were normally the fate of the Victorian and Edwardian poor.

His great grandson, Walter Cyril Parson, was the fourth generation to go into the family concern, having bought the firm from his father, Oscar Walter Parson, in 1932. His son Wally junior became a partner in 1976, and another of his four children, Pat Ware, became a partner in 1980.

Her son Stephen Ware, who joined in 1982, is the current managing director, bringing the family connection into its sixth generation. He said, “We’re still a family business with good traditions, and when we started to expand we tried to put that tradition into all the people we employed.”

His son John Ware said: “We all work well together and share a vision of expanding further. In 1999, we had four offices in Plymouth, but the death rate is declining, and we have countered that by expanding into a larger area.

“We are currently developing our 10^th office in the South West.”

The company has done this by acquiring other family-run firms of funeral directors, which continue to operate under their original business names. John said: “They have excellent staff who are well known in their local communities; we are going from strength to strength.” He said that the company had introduced pre-paid funeral plans and was moving forward with technology to provide optional services such as ‘video reflections’.

John added: “I’m 23 and the seventh generation. It’s not a job for everybody, but I wasn’t pressured into joining the family business and it works well for us. Although I don’t have any children yet, I’d be very happy to think of the company passing on into future generations.