Staff

Harold Church
Senior Director/Funeral Service Licensee
Harold is very involved in his community. He is Past Master of the Sparta Masonic Lodge, charter member of the Blue Ridge Shrine Club, Past Patron of the Eastern Star, and is Past Chairman of the board of the Five-County Regional Board of New River Mental Health. He is a former member of the Governor's Businessmen's Round Table, the North Carolina Board of Substance Abuse Professionals, the Board of Directors of Hospice, the Alleghany Rescue Squad, and the New River Mental Health Board, and is a charter member of the Board of Directors of Blue Ridge Bank. He is married to Judy Pruitt Church.

J. Eric Thomas
Location Manager/Funeral Service Licensee
Eric is a native of Davie County, North Carolina and resided in McDowell County, North Carolina through the majority of his childhood and adolescent years. He is a graduate of Northeast Carolina and Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was a member of the Pi Sigma Eta honor fraternity. Prior to moving to Alleghany County, he worked as an Area Funeral Executive for Stewart Enterprises overseeing multiple funeral home locations in Eastern North Carolina. He is a member of the Sparta Masonic Lodge. He is a licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer in North Carolina and Virginia. He is married to Jennifer Underwood Thomas a native of Guilford County, North Carolina and has two sons, Hunter and Parker.

Donnie Brim
Funeral Director
Donnie is a native of Mount Airy and moved to Sparta in 1991. He graduated from Mt. Airy High School in 1974 and Fayetteville Technical Community College in 2005. He is a North Carolina licensed Funeral Director, a member of the Sparta Church of God, the Gideons International and the Alleghany County Rotary Club. He is married to the former Glona Hines Bennett. He has three step-children and five step-grandchildren. He loves Alleghany County and serving his community.

Kellye Wiles
Administrative Assistant
Kellye Wiles joined us in January of 2006 as Administrative Assistant. She is a 1985 graduate of Alleghany High School. She resides in Sparta with her husband, Leonard and her daughter Kayla. She also has a stepson, Josh. Along with her family, she attends West Side Independent Baptist Church in Sparta.

Jimmy Gillespie
Funeral Assistant
Jimmy is a lifelong native of Alleghany County, and has worked most of his adult life in Sparta. He graduated from Sparta High School in 1957. He is married to the former Patsy McKnight and they have two daughters, Jill and Jennifer, and three grandchildren. Jimmy and Patsy owned and operated Sparta Florist for nearly thirty years. Jimmy is very active in community and Church affairs. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Alleghany Memorial Hospital, the Glade Creek Fire Department and First Charter Bank. He is a Deacon and the Superintendent of Sunday School at Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church near Roaring Gap. He joined the staff at Grandview Memorial in January of 2002 as a part-time funeral assistant.

Charity C. Gambill
Funeral Assistant
Charity is a lifelong native of Alleghany County; She recently married the Reverend Douglas P. Gwyn. She is a mother of four children; one of which is deceased, and has nine grandchildren. Most of her adult life has been devoted to serving others; 30 years as a volunteer Rescue Squad Member, 16 years on the Alleghany County Board of Education and 4 years as a County Commissioner. She also served 18 years on the New River Mental Health Board. She presently serves on the Board of Directors for Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation (31 yrs.); Alleghany County ADAP Board of Directors, First Citizens local Bank Board, and a member of the Wilkes/Alleghany County Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team. She received the Nancy Susan Reynolds Award in 1994 for outstanding volunteer community service. She is a member of the White Plains Baptist Church where she serves as Church Clerk.She joined Grandview Memorial Funeral Home as part-time funeral assistant in February 2003.

Phil Weaver
Funeral Assistant
Phil is a native of Alleghany county and graduated from Alleghany High School. He is married to Marlene Cox Weaver and has four children, Dustin, Wesley, Paige and Bethany. Phil cares for the community, working with Home Health agencies and with the Alleghany Group Home. He has been employed with Grandview Memorial Funeral Home since 2004.