Oral history with Mr. Jesse Benjamin Richmond

              Oral history with Mr. Jesse Benjamin Richmond
F341.5 . M57 vol. 747, pt. 2
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Biography
Mr. Jesse Benjamin Richmond Jr. was reared in Jeff Davis County by his loving grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Richmond. His education began at the Progress Vocational Elementary School in Jeff Davis County and continued through graduation at the Prentiss Institute. During his high school years, Richmond was inspired by several family members including his uncle, the late Silas Richmond, who was a mortician, his father, three uncles, one nephew and numerous cousins who were also members of the profession. His Uncle Silas encouraged Mr. Richmond to pursue the mortuary profession and to develop his own business.
Mr. Richmond attended and was graduated from the Commonwealth College of Funeral Service in Houston, Texas. He served an apprenticeship in funeral directing and embalming at Cook- Richmond Funeral Home in Bogalusa, Louisiana, under the direction of his uncle, Moses L. Richmond. Later, Mr. Richmond was licensed by both the state of Mississippi and the state of Louisiana as a funeral director and embalmer.
While working in Bogalusa, Louisiana, Mr. Richmond was drafted into the United States Army; he served in Vietnam as an embalmer. When Mr. Richmond returned to the United States, he settled on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where he met the late Mr. W. B. McDaniel, former owner of the W. B. McDaniel and Son Funeral Home in Biloxi, Mississippi. He and Mr. McDaniel developed a working relationship which endured through Mr. McDaniel's retirement. At that time, Mr. Richmond bought the business and became the owner of the McDaniel- Richmond Funeral Home on January 1, 1980. Mr. Richmond has trained several apprentices.
Before buying the business, Mr. Richmond worked at various jobs including pier worker, glass plant worker, and UPS worker. At the same time, he was a trades embalmer for funeral homes along the Coast including Dickey Brothers, Chamber Brothers, Galloway Funeral Homes, J. T. Hall Funeral Home, Lockett's Mortuary, and Gulf Funeral Home.
In 1983, Mr. Richmond opened the Richmond Funeral Home in Gulfport, Mississippi, at 1700 Thirtieth Avenue. He holds membership in Little Rock Baptist Church where he is a member of the Trustee Board;
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