Rose Hill Funeral Home and Cremation Services announced Thursday that it has joined the Houston-based Dignity Memorial Network of funeral-, cremation- and cemetery-providers, which also includes Kiser Funeral Home.

Rose Hill Funeral Home, one of four funeral homes in Greeneville, is located at 125 Idletime Drive, off Tennessee Rt. 70 (the Asheville Highway).

"We're very excited to welcome Rose Hill into the Dignity Memorial Network," said John Fredrickson, regional market manager for Service Corporation International, the corporation that owns Dignity Memorial Network.

Rose Hill's co-owners are Jimmy Cansler, Jerry Fortner, and Harold Limburg, all of Greeneville. Limburg is also the manager of the funeral home.

Fortner said in a brief interview Thursday that there will be no change among Rose Hill Funeral Home's employees. "We expect a long transition," he added.

He declined to say how much Service Corporation International paid to purchase Rose Hill.

Recent Greene County real estate transfer records include a transfer of $2.5 million from SCI Funeral Services to Rose Hill Funeral Home.

Sammy Fox, a co-manager with Ronnie Brown of Kiser Funeral Home, said in an interview Thursday, "The plan is that, eventually, the Rose Hill and Kiser Funeral homes will be merged into one."

Asked about the future of Kiser Funeral Home, Fredrickson said, "Kiser Funeral Home will continue to serve the families of Greeneville."

Asked specifically about the future of Kiser's present facility at the intersection of West Main and South Main streets, Fredrickson declined to comment.

The press release announcement quoted Fredrickson as saying, "We look forward to continuing to provide Greeneville families with the quality funeral care they have come to expect from Rose Hill, and from other Dignity Memorial providers.

"The compassionate funeral professionals who have cared for families at Rose Hill since its opening in 2001 will continue to serve families under the facility's new ownership," according to Fredrickson.

He invited interested families to visit Rose Hill and tour the facility, or to call for more information.

"We feel very fortunate with our friends at Kiser, and we look forward to working with Sammy Fox, Ronnie Brown and staff to continue assisting our Greeneville families to celebrate a life lived," said Fortner in the press release.

The release quotes Fortner as saying, "The opportunity to partner with Kiser Funeral Home was an easy decision, as both firms place priority in providing the highest level of service to their client families.

"Rose Hill Funeral Home now joins Kiser Funeral Home as Greeneville's second Dignity Memorial Provider."

The release describes the Dignity Memorial network as "North America's most trusted resource for funeral and memorialization services."

The release adds:

"The network consists of approximately 2,000 funeral-, cremation- and cemetery service-providers that are owned by affiliates of Service Corporation International."

Service Corporation International, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, describes itself as "North America's leading provider of death-care products and services."

As of Dec. 31, 2007, the company owned and operated more than 1,300 funeral homes and 350 cemeteries in 43 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

For more information about Service Corporation International, interested pesons may go onlilne at www-sci-corp.com.