Arrington honored for his work for veterans
In the weeks leading up to his surprise honor at the VFW Post 6496, Bob Arrington was reminded more than once about supporting his friend and coworker Joseph Lane.
“Joseph mentioned something to me about an event going on here on Dec. 1 about three weeks ago, and I thought, ‘OK they’re having an event for veterans, so yeah, I’ll be there,’” Arrington said. “And then yesterday, my wife mentioned that we need to be here to support Joseph as he’s speaking, and I thought, ‘yeah I’m planning on going.’
“But I knew something was up when I saw some of my friends and other funeral directors who were here too.”
Arrington was honored on Wednesday by the West Tennessee Veterans Coalition and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post for his work in honoring veterans in his business, Arrington Funeral Directors. Lane, who’s on Arrington’s staff and also a leader for the VFW Post and active in the coalition, is also the military liaison for Arrington Funeral Directors.
“When I was coming up in the business, there were a lot of veterans who would pass away and wouldn’t get full military honors, and I wanted to make sure when we started Arrington Funeral Directors that anytime we handled a funeral for someone who sacrificed for our country that they got a proper burial as a final thank you to them,” Arrington said. “And Joseph has been great since we brought him on to tell us what we should and shouldn’t do with that.”
Arrington has also been active in funerals for a number of veterans who have been buried at Tennessee State Cemetery at Parkers Crossroads that wouldn’t have had a proper burial otherwise because they didn’t have any family to give them a proper sendoff.
“That doesn’t happen as much as is used to because veterans are great now about keeping up with each other and letting us know if someone they know is a veteran has passed,” Arrington said. “But it’s not rare for a person who served a long time ago that outlived the rest of their family and maybe never had kids wind up being a person that wouldn’t have family automatically there for their funeral.
“But now, the local veterans groups are great about making sure that doesn’t happen, and we’re proud to help give them a proper burial with the full military honors they deserve.”
Arrington said he feels like it’s something he should do since he didn’t serve in the military himself.
“It never worked out for me to sign up, so now this is my way to do some kind of service for these men and women who gave so much for our country,” Arrington said. “Any little thing the rest of us can do for them, they deserve, so that’s what we’re trying to do at Arrington Funeral Directors.”
Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Arrington honored for his work for veterans
