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Carey Bliley’s childhood was unique. He grew up roaming around the hallways of his family’s business, Bliley’s Funeral Home. Fourth generation in the business, he quickly became familiar with the sights of caskets, hearses and the subject of death.
“I used to help at the original building at 3rd and Marshall Street. We had a garage across the street, where we kept all of our hearses and vehicles. I’d help wash plenty of cars over there,” said Bliley, 46, current CEO and president. “Bad things happen to everyone, and everyone’s going to pass. It’s how we can honor and support the family and the kind of loss. That’s the one thing I’ve always been taught from a young kid.”
This year marks the 150th anniversary for Bliley’s Funeral Home, a historic Richmond pillar built on providing solace during times of grief and transition.
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Founded in 1874 by Joseph W. Bliley Sr., Bliley’s emerged during a critical period in Richmond’s history. Amid the aftermath of the Civil War, Bliley’s stood as a beacon of support, offering critical services to the community. This foundation of supporting the community still stands today.
“What draws me to this is a sense of helping people. A lot of jobs are just that, they’re a job,” Bliley said. “I’ve always thought that if you’re able to help people through really difficult times, you’re also able to develop a relationship with families that extends through multiple generations. And we have families that we serve here that have been calling us for their families for 100 years. It’s a sense of doing something that’s bigger than you and more important than just the job.”
Today, Bliley’s Funeral Home continues its legacy across three locations, with a team of 120 associates, serving 1,800 families annually. Bliley says the funeral home has committed to remaining a beacon for the community by providing the highest level of service and quality.
“We’re very blessed that we’ve been able to stay in the position where we are because we do a good job, and that’s something that’s never lost on us: a commitment to our community, to do the best we can,” Bliley said.
Eric Bliley, 40, is also fourth generation to the Bliley legacy.
“It’s an honor to walk with the families of Richmond through their toughest time and getting to know their stories,” Eric Bliley, executive manager of family experience, said.
Bliley’s Funeral Home has a long history in the Richmond community, but the business has adapted to handle new needs and the changing views around how people deal with death. In 2012, Bliley’s opened a standalone, 4,000-square-foot cremation center located at 6900 Hull Street Road. Designed with ceiling skylights and large windows, the center allows families to be present for reflection or a ceremony as the cremation occurs in an adjacent room. This addition has allowed families to rethink and customize rituals around saying goodbye to loved ones.
“It’s becoming the most chosen form of dealing with the disposition of the body,” Bliley said. “We’ve created a facility that allows families to really ritualize the cremation experience. So for us, that’s been a real blessing, not just in the way that we really are able to serve families, but really for the families to find a way to be more involved.”
A new generation is now roaming the halls of the funeral home. Both Carey and Eric now have children that tag along to the office.
“It’s a sense of something bigger than (a business) our grandfather started hundreds of years ago. It really is a labor of love, the sense of being able to give back, not just to the family, but to the community. And I think that’s much more important to us than profits. I’ve always believed that we do the best job we can in serving the community and the families that come to us. The rest takes care of itself,” Bliley said.
From the Archives: 250 photos of Richmond in the 1940s
Belle Isle
Bellwood Drive-In
Bowler School
Cowardin Avenue Christian Recreation Center
Floods
Glenwood Country Club
Grace Street
Maggie Walker
Powerline
Public bath house
Schools
Semmes
Shawondasee
Sixth Street Market
Sixth Street Market
Streetcars on Main Street
Swimming and diving championship
The Mosque
Trolley
Water tower
Stockyards
Richmond fires
Trolley
organ grinder
Mail box
Mooer's Field
1940s floods
Cornshusk rug
farmer
Sixth Street Market
Tredegar
Sixth Street Market
Sixth Street Market
Patsy Garrett
boys club
Hunting
draft
pool hall
Mosque pool
rollerskate
Times-Dispatch
Beavers
Blues Armory
Boulevard
Byrd Field
C&O
Central State Hospital
Central Station Post Office
Churchill
City Stadium
Cowardin Avenue and Hull Street
Curles Neck Dairy
Dixie
Elba
Fishing
Forest Lodge
Fountain
Freedom Train
Friendship Train
1947 Monument Avenue
Grocery
Ice
Kensington Avenue apartments
Main Street
Main Street
Mayo Bridge
Memorial Day parade
Mules
Nickel prank
Oilfield
Old Manchester water works
Shawondasee
Shriners parades
Skyline
Sledding
State toxicologist
Street Sweepers
Sunshine Sue
Tickets
Traffic
Trolley
Tuberculosis ward
University of Richmond
Valentine Museum
Fire
Cary St
Paper
Powhatan Hill Playground
Street scene
race car
Doll hospital
West Avenue
Broad St.
mill
Main Street Station
Churchill
Draft
Air Scouts
Maggie Walker
pinball machines
1945 Allied Victory Day
American Red Cross
American Red Cross
Armistice
Belgian Friendship Building and Bell Tower
Blackout
Bojangles
Braille cookbook
Broad Street Station
Bryan Park
Carter Sisters
Cigarettes
City Stadium
Confederate Soldiers Home
Defense Special No. 1 train
Draft
Elba School
Executive Mansion
Fire
Gasless parade
Grace Arents School
Grace St
Grace Street pollution
Henrico Red Cross Motor Corps
Highland Springs Volunteer Fire Department
Holden Rhodes House
Ice
James River flood
Magnet
mailboxes
Main St
Mayo Bridge
Medical College of Virginia
Melons
Military parade
Miller & Rhoads wagon
mobile canteen
Mobile kitchen
Mooers
Mooers Field
Pamunkey Indians
Parade
Parking ban
Parking Lot Canteen
Quiz Kids
Ration tokens
Rationing
Red Cross
Richmond Quartermaster Depot
Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers’ Home
Rosa D. Bowser library
Scrap metal drive
Shoe ration
Sixth Street Market
Street Sweepers
Thomas Jefferson High School Cadet Corps
Tin drive
Toll house
Trolley
Typewriter repair
Virginia Department of Agriculture
War bonds
Water tower
Weiman’s Bakery
Wilcox Lake
WLEE
WLEE
Women in Production Service
Women’s Army Corps
Works Progress Administration
George Wythe
Laundry
fortune teller
Air Raid Wardens
YMCA
Charter Change
Travelers Aid Society
street sweepers
Dupont
1940s floods
Acca Temple
elevator
Restaurants
Restaurants
Red Cross Motor Corps
shoe ration
Air Raid
WWII
WWII
Bikes
sampson
Dorothy Lamour
Rationing
typewriters
Bellwood
Native Americans
Fort Lee
ScrapMetal
WWII
WWII
American Red Cross Production Corps
archery
bricklaying class
Camp Lee
Camp Lee
Clark Gable
Deep Run races
Deep Water Terminal
Em Bowles Locker
First and Merchants National Bank of Richmond
Gasless Sundays
Liquid stockings
Monument Methodist
Mrs. Cupid
nurses
Old-fashioned swimsuit contest
Pearl Harbor front page
Rats
Rockingham National Turkey Festival
Sergeant Jack Blizzard
Seven Pines Baptist Church
Snowstorm
Snowstorm
State Library
WWII
Cavalier Arena
Pamunkey
Brookfield
Patrick Henry
carriages
rollerskate
Railroads
Red Cross
Richmond Terminal
Richmond Colts
1940s floods
Chelsea Jackson (804) 649-6965
cjackson@timesdispatch.com
If You Go
Bliley's Funeral Home locations:
Central,3801 Augusta Avenue
Chippenham,6900 Hull Street Road
Staples Mill,8510 Staples Mill Road
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Chelsea Jackson
Features Reporter
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