founder’s profile

Joseph J. Earthman, funeral director, founder, and fourth-generation funeral service provider, has worked in every aspect of funeral service since 1992. Having started his career in the family business as a member of the grounds crew at Earthman Resthaven Cemetery in Houston, Texas, Mr. Earthman also worked as a general staff member and funeral director for Earthman Funerals under the ownership of the Loewen Group, then the Alderwoods Group, and finally SCI, until 2008.

In 2012, Mr. Earthman founded Joseph J. Earthman Generations which is one of the last family owned and operated funeral service providers in the Greater Houston Area.

Prior to funeral service, Mr. Earthman graduated from Loyola University in 1995, earning a bachelors’ degree in biology, and then worked in Japan teaching English to Japanese business professionals and students.

our texas legacy

In 1825, Lewis and Isaac Earthman, brothers from Nashville, Tennessee, saw an opportunity to expand westward in the new and growing United States of America. They each purchased stock (as did fellow Tennessean Sam Houston) in a colonization enterprise called the “Texas Association” which brought more than 400 American families to settle what would become the Waco area of the yet to be formed Republic of Texas. Isaac, a veteran of the American Revolution, fought in the Battle of Lindley’s Mill, North Carolina, in 1781. In 1835, Henry Earthman, Isaac and Lewis’ brother, also moved to Texas from Tennessee, settling in Fayette County.

Fifty-four years later, Henry’s son James B., a one-time blacksmith and livery proprietor in Taylor, Texas, founded the Earthman McCarty Undertaking Company, serving families of Civil War veterans and other members of the Taylor community. In 1903, Earthman McCarty moved the company to Houston where it would grow to become the largest, private family-owned funeral home business in U.S. history. Members of the Earthman family have continuously met the funeral needs of their communities for more than 120 years.

As a fourth-generation funeral home and service provider, Joseph J. Earthman and the caring staff at Generations are guided by the core values set forth by James B. Earthman. Our guiding principles are based on compassionate care, uncompromising service, strict attention to detail and continual comfort for the families we serve. As our family has always done, we want to serve you and your loved ones today and for generations to come.