About Us

Whitehurst-McNamara Funeral Service is an independently owned funeral home that has been serving the city of Hanford and the neighboring communities for over 100 years. The story of our funeral home goes back to the late 1800's when it was known as Robinson Bros. Undertakers. Originally located on West 8th Street, it was a mortuary with an ambulance service and a second parlor in Lemoore. In 1940, it became Sullivan Funeral Service owned by Robert L. Sullivan. One of Bob Sullivan's employees named Paul Odell took ownership and built a brand new Colonial style funeral home on West Bush Street where the Cameron Family House once stood, renaming it Sullivan-Odell Funeral Home Colonial Chapel. Paul Odell sold all interest to William "Bill" Whitehurst a funeral director from Fresno and in the 1960's, Bill Whitehurst went into partnership with Clement McNamara who worked for Bob Sullivan and Paul Odell. The name of the funeral home was then changed to; Whitehurst-McNamara Funeral Service. Bill handled all administrative work and Clem managed the funeral home. 

In 1967, Clem McNamara purchased the funeral home from the Whitehurst Family and was the owner until 1985 when he decided to sell the funeral home to the Loewen Group; a funeral home corporation based out of Canada. In 1999, Loewen Group declared bankruptcy and a new corporation called the Alderwoods Group emerged from Loewen in 2002. Later in 2006, Whitehurst-McNamara came under ownership of another corporation called Service Corporation International (SCI); the largest funeral home corporation in the world. SCI acquired Alderwoods Group and Whitehurst-McNamara along with many other funeral homes and cemeteries came under ownership of another major corporation. But in 2007, Whitehurst-McNamara Funeral Service returned to being a privately owned funeral home. Kim and Judy Wilson of Wilson Family Funeral Chapel saw the opportunity and purchased Whitehurst-McNamara from SCI and returned it to the same local ownership and care that Clem McNamara established in Hanford. Kim and Judy own and operate Wilson Family Funeral Chapel in Atwater and Merced, Miller's Tulare Funeral Home in Tulare and their own crematory in Atwater and they are proud to add Whitehurst-McNamara Funeral Service to their little independent group. 

Whitehurst-McNamara Funeral Service takes pride in its service to families in the Hanford community. Every year we donate and support local charities and community service organizations. Our staff contains licensed funeral directors, embalmers, crematory operators and preneed insurance professionals. We have decades of experience in all areas of funeral service. We hope you consider us as a source for compassionate care and superlative service. We pledge ourselves to honor you, your loved one and your family with competence, respect, and the personal attention that you need in every detail of a funeral service.