The Business-Boosting Tribute Blanket That Traveled to a National Stage
When a funeral service concludes, what remains — the flowers and plants, memorial cards, register books — are items that directors never expect to see again. Flowers are left at the cemetery, cards are tucked into purses and Bibles, and register books disappear into drawers or bookshelves of family homes.
So when Jeremy Bethea, Manager of Bethea Funeral Home in Robeson County, North Carolina, received a call from a colleague telling him that a memorial item he had gifted to a family he served had appeared on national television, he was understandably surprised.
A young gospel singer named Dontrell Briggs had walked into his audition for season 20 of the American Idol singing competition series carrying something close to his heart — a Tribute Blanket, custom-crafted by Funeral Home Gifts, bearing the face of his late godmother, Betty Jean Morrison. When judge Katy Perry asked him what he was holding, Briggs unfurled it for all three judges — and the world — to see. The blanket read: Betty Morrison. Sunrise July 11, 1962. Sunset April 25, 2021.
A lasting impact
The family of Betty Jean Morrison chose Bethea Funeral Home to handle her homegoing services when she passed away in April 2021. Briggs, 26, who had been singing gospel music since he was four years old, was among the dozens of mourners who bid Morrison a final goodbye, placing a rose atop her casket at graveside.
“I miss her a lot,” Briggs told the judges. “She played a very big part in my life. Not a day that I could not call her, and she wouldn’t be right there.”
He told them that American Idol had been a shared dream — something he and his godmother had talked about often. He believed that if he earned that Golden Ticket, she would be rejoicing with the angels.
Briggs got his Golden Ticket. And on that national stage, a Tribute Blanket from Funeral Home Gifts was right there with him.
The funeral home behind the blanket
Jeremy Bethea has been gifting Tribute Blankets from Funeral Home Gifts to his families since around 2017, when he first spotted their display at the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association (NFDMA) convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He said he was drawn to them immediately.
“I wanted it,” he says. “We got hooked up with them and we’ve been doing it ever since — basically for every family we serve.”
That commitment has earned Bethea Funeral Home a reputation in their community.
“We’re kind of known as that funeral home,” says Bethea. “Because no one else, I don’t think, does it.”
Bethea presents the Tribute Blanket thoughtfully and intentionally, listening during arrangement conferences — picking up on mentions of a favorite sports team, a hobby like fishing or music, a color palette reflected in the flowers being ordered or the casket being chosen. He matches it all together. And sometimes, families who already know about the blankets come in with their own design ideas, which he sends along to Funeral Home Gifts.
“It’s great that we can offer that service and give the family exactly what they want,” he said.
First impressions matter
Bethea says that families will often walk toward the casket — and the Tribute Blanket catches their eye first.
“They are just in awe of the blanket,” he says. “They stand beside it and take pictures, just as they do standing beside the casket with their loved one.”
Bethea presents the Tribute Blanket with the same ceremony he would afford a military flag. At the close of the service, as the casket is carried to the funeral coach, he removes the casket spray and drapes the Tribute Blanket in its place. At the cemetery, during the committal, it’s folded and presented to the family — just as a flag would be.
“It’s a real befitting touch,” he adds.
A true travel companion
While seeing his Tribute Blanket on a hit TV show may be a once-in-a-lifetime surprise, it was far from the first time Bethea had come across one of these gifts well after the service. He’ll sometimes visit a family months later and find the Tribute Blanket draped across a couch or a favorite recliner. Some family members, like Dontrell Briggs, even bring the blanket with them as they travel, finding real comfort in knowing they can wrap themselves in a semblance of their loved one.
“They take that blanket with them,” Bethea says. “It’s beautiful.”
The turnaround time from Funeral Home Gifts continues to impress him. There have been moments when family members see the Tribute Blanket at the viewing and immediately request reorders — and thanks to the speed of fulfillment, those reorders are sometimes ready before the funeral service even ends.
“It kind of blows their mind,” he says.
Blankets bring in business
Bethea can confidently and proudly share that Bethea Funeral Home has experienced growth that can be directly attributed to Funeral Home Gifts Tribute Blankets.
“I have heard one or two people say the reason they chose us is because we do the blankets,” he says.
When Bethea Funeral Home became known as the funeral home that gives families a Tribute Blanket — that distinction mattered. It differentiated them in a way that no advertising campaign could have.
There is something quietly powerful about offering a family something that is practical, personal, and permanent — something that doesn’t wilt, doesn’t get tucked in a drawer, and doesn’t feel like a generic token of remembrance. Funeral Home Gifts has built something that families genuinely treasure, and funeral homes like Bethea are seeing the results of that.
Dontrell Briggs made it to Hollywood. He carried Betty Jean Morrison with him every step of the way — in his voice, in his dedication, and in that Tribute Blanket that he unfurled in front of millions of viewers.
Jeremy Bethea didn’t know any of that was coming when he ordered that blanket. He was just doing what he does for every family he serves — trying to give them something meaningful, and something that lasts.
