‘The Death Merchant’ plans new funeral home at Pasco cemetery site

Wendy Culverwell
·3 min read

A new funeral home is planned for a site bordering Pasco’s historic City View Cemetery.

Tim Morris, aka Cemetery Tim — the headstone whisperer, has submitted plans to build a funeral home and, eventually, a crematory.

The city determined the 7,284-square-foot funeral home, 1601 N. Idaho Ave., will not adversely impact the environment in a decision recorded in September under the Washington State Environmental Policy Act or SEPA.

Near City View Cemetery

The funeral home is proposed for a 1.8-acre parcel that borders the cemetery’s entrance near Oregon Avenue and Highway 12.

Tim Morris, aka Cemetery Tim — the headstone whisperer — has submitted plans to build a funeral home and, eventually, a crematory, next to Pasco’s historic City View Cemetery.
Tim Morris, aka Cemetery Tim — the headstone whisperer — has submitted plans to build a funeral home and, eventually, a crematory, next to Pasco’s historic City View Cemetery.

Morris, who operates a group of cemetery and headstone businesses, declined to comment on his Pasco plans.

Based in Yakima, he offers headstone services at a storefront in downtown Pasco, as well as in Yakima.

In 2018, the Yakima Herald-Republlic called Morris “the least likely internet celebrity to ever come out of the Yakima Valley” in a feature about his lively approach to a somber profession.

His highly customized headstones celebrate the lives of the people they honor and are sold nationwide.

Planning documents indicate the future funeral home will include a 600-square-foot crematorium, which will be reviewed separately from the funeral home. The facility will employ 15, according to planning documents.

Knutzen Engineering submitted the applications on the funeral home’s behalf.

The Death Merchant

Morris paid $700,000 in March for the four parcels that comprise the property. Franklin County property records indicate he owns it under The Death Merchant LLC. The name also appears on a site plan filed as part of the SEPA review.

City View Cemetery in Pasco was decorated with flags and flowers to honor the Memorial Day holiday.
City View Cemetery in Pasco was decorated with flags and flowers to honor the Memorial Day holiday.

Pasco established City View Cemetery as a municipal facility in 1923. A century later, the 22-acre property is still active. The 13 blocks that comprise its historic north end are the site of more than 10,000 burials.

The city said it did not actively recruit a funeral home to serve the cemetery. The city works with all funeral service providers seeking to arrange burials there.

Growing need

While funeral homes tend to operate quietly, new ones do open, said Rob Goff, executive director of the Washington State Funeral Directors Association.

The main criteria to operate a funeral home is that it must have a licensed funeral director on the team.

Goff said most new facilities tend to be satellites of existing funeral homes. He hadn’t heard of Morris’s plans for Pasco, but he welcomed the news.

Tim Morris, aka Cemetery Tim — the headstone whisperer — has submitted plans to build a funeral home and, eventually, a crematory, next to Pasco’s historic City View Cemetery.
Tim Morris, aka Cemetery Tim — the headstone whisperer — has submitted plans to build a funeral home and, eventually, a crematory, next to Pasco’s historic City View Cemetery.

Demand for funeral services is not only shifting toward cremation, but rising along with population growth, he noted.

Washington’s population grew to 7.9 million people in April, a gain of nearly a quarter of a million since the 2020 census, according to annual estimates prepared by the Washington state Office of Financial Management.

Deaths, OFM observed, will increase as baby boomers age. There were 2,552 deaths in Benton and Franklin counties in 2022-23, according to state records. That’s 55% more than a decade earlier.

For the same period, Benton and Franklin counties recorded 3,909 births, down from the 4,173 births recorded a decade earlier.

Sign Up: Boom Town Tri-Cities

Stay up to date on Tri-Cities growth and development with our weekly business newsletter. Get the latest on restaurant and business openings and closings, plus the region’s top housing and employment news. Click here to sign up. In your inbox every Wednesday.