Note: The following item was sponsored by Freeman Harris Funeral Home, an advertiser on Polk.Today. Thank them for their support of local news and visit them at freemanharrisfunerals.com. – KtE
A local man with roots in the community is here to help families in their time of need, providing the same compassionate service for families in keeping up a tradition at Freeman Harris Funeral Home.
The torch has been passed in leadership at the funeral home on East Elm Street in downtown Rockmart to Nathan Womack, who takes over for Allen Bullard, who has been with the funeral home serving with his father-in-law and founder Freeman Harris since the 1970s.
Womack, a Rockmart native himself, took over as manager of the funeral home this past November with the goal of upholding the traditions already in place of serving families in Polk County and the surrounding area.
However, he knows he wouldn’t be where he is now without the help of Bullard.
“Allen is very supportive of me and my work at the funeral home, and together he and I maintain the traditions of the funeral home and Freeman Harris’s legacy,” he said.
There’s big shoes to fill, with a long history of service to the community to keep up.
Freeman Harris joined the Cochran Funeral Home of Rockmart in 1939 as manager. His career started like Womack’s as a graduate of the Gupton Jones Mortuary College in the Class of 1937 and at the time was employed with the Owens Funeral Home of Cartersville.
When he arrived, the funeral home was already serving families for more than two decades in Rockmart and he continued in the management role until Harris purchased the funeral home five years later and renamed it, then expanded facilities over the years following a move to the current location in 1947.
Womack is hoping to keep up the tradition of service to the community after learning it here in our hometown life in Polk County.
He is a Rockmart native who graduated from Cedartown High School in 2011, and went onto Berry College in Rome where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in 2015.
Womack went on to learn the business at Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service, where he was valedictorian of his class. During his time in school, he received the Ralph S. Turner Award for Excellence in Embalming and Restorative Art, and the Bill Pierce Award for Excellence in Funeral Service, and the Georgia Funeral Directors Association Scholarship Award.
He’s a member of the Academy of Graduate Embalmers of Georgia.
Womack’s greatest hope is to ensure that the legacy set by his forebearers – Harris and Bullard – continues ahead.
Families who want to discuss pre-arranged services, or who are facing immediate difficult choices can contact Freeman Harris Funeral Home today by calling 770-684-6551 or visit freemanharrisfunerals.com.
