Smoky Mountain Cremations and Funeral Services: Kelli Ray and Ronnie Surrett

Photos provided by Kelli Ray

In Haywood County, North Carolina, Smoky Mountain Cremations and Funeral Services has been offering affordable, accessible funeral services to the community since it opened in 2014.

Owner Ronnie Surrett saw a need in Haywood County for a more affordable funeral option, and he leaned on his 50 years of experience in the funeral industry to open his business. A few years later, Surrett’s stepdaughter Kelli Ray joined him in running the funeral service.

Renting his first funeral home in Clyde, Ronnie also purchased a small building next to it and opened the county’s first crematorium.

But like almost every small business in Haywood and the surrounding counties, Smoky Mountain Cremations and Funeral Services experienced destruction in September of 2024 when Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina.

“When the floods hit, it completely wiped everything out,” says Kelli. “It wiped out some of the exterior walls. Six months later and our crematorium is still not working. We’ve been working to get that up and running, but we’re still waiting on estimates for that.”

As for their funeral services, Kelli and Ronnie had purchased a separate funeral home before Helene hit with the intention of eventually moving there, and fortunately it was not impacted. Still, the hurricane wiped out all their furniture and equipment, as well two hearses.

Needing funding to survive with the ability to only offered limited services in local churches, Ray was referred to the Western Women’s Business Center (WWBC) by a Carolina Small Business Development Fund (CSBDF) representative and received a $25,000 grant through the WNC Small Business Initiative.

“We found out we got this grant, and it was just unbelievable,” says Kelli. “We had a building with no furniture. We lost everything that was in the old facility. But with this grant we were able to furnish the most of the new building and replace the things we lost in the flood. We were able to buy a used hearse, too. The grant came at just the right time for us.”

For Kelli, having an easy, accessible resource in the community was a huge lift for not only her business, but also other businesses in Haywood County.

“I cannot say enough good things about the WWBC, CSBDF, and this opportunity,” says Ray. “It was such an easy process, and they helped me through it. It was pretty amazing. We’re excited, and we feel blessed. We lost a place to serve our community but still had a building to go to. Some people lost much more, but at the same time it’s still just been a lot of work to get things back going. I also have friends that own a boutique that applied for and received a grant. I don’t know what they would have done without that. To hear these stories and to know that this money is out there to help small businesses, it’s really amazing.”

With their new location furnished, Smoky Mountain Cremations and Funeral Services is ready to open its new doors. However, there’s still a long road to recovery ahead, but it’s a road that has been made a bit easier thanks to the help of the WWBC.

“We serve over 350 families a year. That’s a lot for a small town,” says Kelli. “And we still have a long road to go. Our crematorium could cost a lot to repair. But I just want to be able to continue to grow, and this grant helped us get our new facility ready to allow us to do that.”