Little did I know that today in 2014, I would be celebrating a century of dedicated service from Wright Funeral Home without my father, the late Isaac N. Wright, Jr. He was a true Renaissance man, and consummate story-teller—often telling me of our history. My great-great grandfather, Austin Wylie, was driving a stagecoach into York County, South Carolina from Virginia when he drove into Historic Brattonsville. There he met my great-great grandmother, Alice Bratton, who wanted to leave the slave plantation. She did leave with him, and when she returned to South Carolina, they settled in Yorkville (present day York, SC).
It is from this union that Fannie C. Wylie was born. She was a true matriarch and she birthed a legacy of service in Wright Funeral Home with herself, my grandfather, the late Isaac N. Wright, Sr., my father, and myself. She met and married Ike “Bub” Wright, a master craftsman and mason. In the early 1900’s, Bub began making fine pine boxes to support his growing family, and provide a much needed service to the community. He gained such a reputation for casket-making that he decided to form a funeral service.
Being the craftsman he was, he began building our original funeral home, and in 1914, opened the two-story structure for business—leaving a chapel and office downstairs, with room to build his pine boxes upstairs.That structure still proudly stands today, alongside the modern structure my father had built in 1985, as a symbol of longevity, dedication and genuine concern for the well-being of our families and our community.
After over 40 years of dedicated service, my father passed away, and left 100 years of history with me, the Honorable Bridget M. Wright, the Fourth Generation. It is my sincerest wish to carry on—giving each family we serve a century of training and dignity.