Gupton-Jones College Of Funeral Service Welcomes Walter Crox, Jr. As Incoming President

BROADVIEW, IL, JUNE 10, 2014 – Pierce Mortuary Colleges is pleased to announce the addition of Walter Crox, Jr., CFSP, as Incoming President of Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service, Decatur, Georgia.  Crox will work in transition with current President Patty Hutcheson until her retirement from the college later this summer.

Crox brings nearly twenty years of funeral service and management experience to Gupton-Jones and is a licensed embalmer and funeral director in the states of Georgia and Tennessee.  As the fifth generation in his family to be involved in the funeral service profession in Tennessee, Crox has been around the funeral industry most of his life, in one way or another.  He has also managed a funeral home as well as working in nearly every capacity in funeral service.

Crox is a graduate of Mid-America College of Funeral Service, another Pierce Mortuary College located in Jeffersonville, Indiana.  He holds both a Diploma of Funeral Service and an Associate’s of Applied Science in Funeral Service degree from Mid-America. He earned both a Bachelor’s degree in management and a Master’s in Business Administration at Ottawa University, Jeffersonville, IN.

While at Ottawa, Crox served as assistant director for the Center of Adult and Professional Services program and helped develop an articulation agreement with Gupton-Jones College.

“I firmly believe that a well-rounded education assists both the mortuary students as well as their future employers,” says Crox. “Certainly my personal educational experience with articulation programs helped form my belief in a comprehensive education which I believe will serve me well in my role at Gupton-Jones.”

Crox also has a wide-ranging background, having served his hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee as a reserve sheriff’s deputy and as a full-time police officer.  He is a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge in Charleston, Tennessee and the York Rite.  He is also a member of the Alhambra Shrine Temple in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

“We are very pleased to welcome Walter Crox, Jr. as incoming president at Gupton-Jones,” says Dr. Jill Karn, Chief Operating Officer of Pierce Mortuary Colleges. “He brings a wealth of experience as well as a personal passion for funeral service and education and I am confident that he will quickly forge ties with his team and continue the fine legacy at Gupton-Jones of preparing future funeral professionals for success.”

For more information on Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service, visit www.gupton-jones.edu