A Homegoing to Remember

Willie Watkins honors the dead with funerals that celebrate Black lives with dignity and flourish.

Julian Reeder’s family was hard to miss amid the sea of black-clad mourners at Riverdale’s Fountain of Faith Missionary Baptist Church one Friday in January. They were dressed in white, matching the luminous suit worn by their beloved in the casket.

The family chose white because it was a color the 52-year-old grandfather of nine enjoyed wearing and because it gave an uplifting feeling to an otherwise gloomy day, says Tova Reeder, Julian’s sister. “We wanted it to be more like a celebration.”

Despite sorrowful, solemn and sometimes tragic circumstances, Black funerals are often marked by a spirit of celebration. A homegoing, as the Black Christian tradition is called, commemorates the return of the deceased to the Lord.

“The Bible teaches us to rejoice in the victory, because you’ve made it over,” says funeral home owner Willie Watkins. This joy is conveyed through careful artistry, whether in a mourner’s choice of clothes, a gospel singer’s soulful voice or a funeral home’s service.

Family members of Julian Reeder attend his funeral at Fountain of Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Riverdale in January.

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Watkins, 74, is one of Atlanta’s — and the nation’s — most esteemed undertakers. His funeral home has overseen services for everyone from civil rights icons Coretta Scott King and John Lewis to rapper Shawty Lo. But the bulk of his work is for everyday families like the Reeders, who come for the business’ reputation and the special experiences it offers families. Options include crowning ceremonies, dove releases, and transporting caskets in a horse-drawn carriage.

As a boy, Watkins was fascinated by the funerals he attended with his grandmother in Scottsdale. When he was 13, he got a job at Herschel Thornton Mortuary in Atlanta and by 16 he was directing services. In 1978, he bought a spacious, old home in Atlanta’s West End, which became the flagship Willie A. Watkins Funeral Home. Throughout the metro area there are now five locations, which he runs with the help of his family.

“Performance” is the word that best describes the distinctiveness of a homegoing, says Karla Holloway, professor emeritus of English, law and African American studies at Duke University. Black Americans historically were not afforded respect and dignity in American life, but they could counteract that through elaborate funeral rituals.

“Zora Neale Hurston said that Black folk have an urge to adorn,” Holloway says. “The more adornment we can give to the ceremony, the more memorable it is.”

Willie Watkins Funeral Home’s services are certainly memorable. From high-stepping funeral attendants to trotting white horses, the business is known for its for ornate and sometimes extravagant pageantry. It all makes for a sight to behold — a representation as much of vivid life as of death.

Carroll Brown (left) wipes a tear from her eye after viewing the casket of her son-in-law, Marcus Johnson, 50. Over the past two decades, several of Brown’s family members have had homegoings performed by Willie Watkins Funeral Home.

For those who choose a crowning ceremony, a tiara or crown is placed on the head of the deceased before closing the casket to represent the concept of becoming royalty in heaven.

Pall bearers carry the casket of Julian Reeder into a hearse.

Christine King Farris, Martin Luther King Jr.’s last surviving sibling, lies in state at the Georgia Capitol in 2023. She was only the fourth Black Georgian to lie in state at the Capitol, and Willie Watkins Funeral Home performed the services for all of them, including Coretta Scott King, John Lewis and C.T. Vivian.

Willie Watkins oversees the arrangements before Christine King Farris’ service at the Capitol.

Funeral attendants Justin Mayes (left) and Preston Hall watch the service of Julian Reeder. Their top hats are an element of a Willie Watkins “signature” service that families can order to add another level of formality to a homegoing. “I wanted to do something to honor [Julian] in the most high way that we could,” says Tova Reeder.

Justin Mayes leads the casket of Julian Reeder from Riverdale’s Fountain of Faith Missionary Baptist Church to a hearse.

Willie Watkins Funeral Home has a fleet of four horse-drawn carriages, one of which dates from the 1700s, Watkins says.

Adrian Johnson (center) mourns her husband Marcus before his viewing.

Funeral attendant Preston Hall places a crown on Julian Reeder, as the song “I Shall Wear a Crown” plays.

Most homegoings are open casket, creating an extra emphasis on the presentation of the body. “A lot of the time as you pass by the casket, the commentary is about whether or not the funeral home did a good job,” says Holloway. “How lifelike do they look?” Some funeral professionals have told her the reason Black funeral homes are needed is because white morticians get Black makeup wrong. “They make us look dead.”

Justin Mayes applies makeup to Betty Lue Surry. Mayes, 30, has been working with Willie Watkins Funeral Home since he was 17. He became interested in working at a funeral home when he saw the body of a friend who died in an accident. “I was expecting her to look really bad,” he says, “but she just looked asleep.” As a mortician, he describes himself as a perfectionist. “I always say, ‘How would they look in heaven?’”

Funeral attendant Preston Hall is seen at the funeral of Julian Reeder at Fountain of Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Riverdale.

Willie Watkins compares running a funeral home to a ministry. “We’re ministering to people,” he says. “They need someone they can talk to.”

Eric Lancaster (left) and Jarvis Williams move a new casket into the display room of the Willie Watkins Funeral Home in the West End.

Willie Watkins waits in the chapel of his West End funeral home between services. Watkins often works seven days a week, answering phones, greeting families and watching over services. “I love what I do,” he says.

A mourner touches the casket of Marcus Johnson.

Friends and family of Tommie Lee Dixon Sr. congregate on the front porch of Willie Watkins Funeral Home in the West End after a viewing for Dixon.

A horse-drawn carriage takes the body of Betty Lue Surry through Lincoln Cemetery in Atlanta.

How we got the story

Staff photographer Arvin Temkar joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2022. Temkar spent three months behind the scenes at Willie Watkins’ Funeral Home, attending services, following employees on their daily duties and talking to bereaved families, to capture some of the artistry and soul that goes into a homegoing.