Mark K. King is a native of Leland and graduated from Leland High School. He began his career in the funeral business working for his father, W.J. Boone, Jr. at Boone Funeral Home during his high school years. He graduated from Commonwealth College of Mortuary Science in Houston, Texas in 1981 and returned to work with his dad as a licensed funeral director/embalmer. In 1986 he obtained his Life, Health & Accident Insurance license. Mark married Cindy Miller in 1983. They have three children, Keith, Miller and PatMarie. Mark is a member of and ordained elder and deacon in the Leland Presbyterian Church, a member of the Leland Lions Club and in 1984 became a licensed eye enucleator for the Mississippi Lions Eye Bank. He is a member of the Leland, Greenville, and Indianola Chambers of Commerce, a member of and former district governor of MFDA (Mississippi Funeral Directors Association), and a member of NFDA (National Funeral Directors Association.) Mark served as a former member of the Washington School Board of Directors and is a current member and past president of the Washington School Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Allied Funeral Associates Insurance Company and serves as the MEAM (Municipal Energy Agency of Mississippi) representative for the city of Leland.
Cindy M. King is a native of Leland and graduated from Washington School and Delta State University with a Bachelor of Science in Education. After teaching at her high school alma mater for six years, Cindy obtained her funeral director’s license and insurance license and began working with her husband in the family business. She and Mark married in 1983 and are the proud parents of three children, Keith, Miller and PatMarie. Cindy is a member of and ordained elder in the Leland Presbyterian Church, a member of the Leland, Greenville, and Indianola Chambers of Commerce, a member of the Mississippi Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association, and a former member of the Leland Junior Auxiliary and Junior Women’s Club. She currently serves as bookkeeper for Leland Tire & Parts Center, Inc., Boone Funeral Home, Inc., Boone Benefit Association, and Boone Trust Company, Inc.
Mike P. Columbus is a lifelong resident of Leland. He entered the funeral business at the age of eighteen working at Boone Funeral Home. At that time funeral homes also operated the local ambulance service. Mike graduated from the Dallas Institute-Gupton Jones Mortuary College in 1958 and returned to work at Boone as a licensed funeral director/embalmer. Mike married the former Margarete Boegner of Germany in 1961, and they have one son, Mike, Jr., and three grandchildren. Mike is a member of the Mississippi Funeral Directors Association and the National Funeral Directors Association. He served as president of the Leland Chamber of Commerce, Community Fund Chairman, and Junior Auxiliary King. Mike is a member, former president and district governor of the Leland Lions Club. He is an honorary life member of the Leland Knights of Columbus, fourth degree, serving as grand knight for eight different terms. He also is an honorary life member of the Msg. J.J. Igoe Assembly Knights of Columbus, fourth degree, where he served as faithful navigator and presently serves as commander of the Honor Guard. Mike served as Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 74 for ten years and is a life communicant of St. James Catholic Church.
Shelli H. Rutledge is a native of Greenville. She graduated from Greenville High School in 1986 and from Mississippi Delta Community College in 1991 with an A.S. degree in Secretarial Science. She has been a valuable employee with Boone Funeral Home since 1994, serving as executive secretary for both the funeral home and insurance office. She married Brad Rutledge in 1993, and they have two children, Brandon and Allie. They are members of South Main Church of Christ.
John D. Wise is a native of Eupora, Mississippi and moved to the Delta in April 2012. He began his career in the funeral business in 1978 working for his father, James L. Wise, Sr. at Wise Funeral Home in Eupora. He received his Funeral Director’s License in 1980 and later earned a Mortuary Science Degree from East Mississippi Community College. He achieved his Funeral Service License in 1988. John accepted a position with Boone Funeral Home in April 2012. John is married to Kristi Horton of Cleveland, Mississippi, and they have one daughter, Mary Makayla. John is a former member of the Mississippi National Guard, a former Deputy Medical Examiner Investigator for Webster County, and served on the Eupora Volunteer Fire Department for 11 years.
Chris Jennings is a lifelong resident of Greenville and graduated from St. Joseph Catholic School. In 2015 he began working for Smith Funeral Home and joined Boone Funeral Home when they merged in 2016.