Manager says state businesses: ; not affected by sale

DAILY MAIL BUSINESS EDITOR

An area manager for Service Corp. International, the world'slargest provider of funeral and cemetery services, said none of thecompany's West Virginia properties are among the more than 400funeral locations and 105 cemeteries up for sale. The companyannounced it is selling some of its properties to reduce debt.

Timothy Beavers, area manager of Service Corp. International'sWest Virginia properties, said, "None of the West Virginiaproperties are affected."

Those properties are:

- Long & Fisher Funeral Home, Sissonville.

- Pryor Funeral Home, East Bank.

- Ridgelawn Memorial Park and Woodmere Memorial Park, both ofHuntington.

- Sunset Memory Gardens and Sunset Memorial Funeral Home, both ofParkersburg.

- Rosedale Cemetery Co. and Rosedale Funeral Chapel, both ofMartinsburg.

- Roselawn Memorial Gardens and Monte Vista Park Cemetery, bothof Princeton.

Service Corp. International is headquartered in Houston, Texas.The company operates 3,823 funeral-service locations, 525 cemeteriesand 198 cremetoria and has more than 30,000 employees. The companysays on its Internet site that it "helps nearly one million familiesa year with funeral, burial and cremation services and associatedmerchandise, prearranged funeral plans, and pre-need cemeteryproperty and merchandise."

Revenues in fiscal year 1999 exceeded $3.3 billion. Service Corp.International's stock is traded under the ticker symbol "SRV" on theNew York Stock Exchange. The company's stock hit a 52-week low of$1.56 per share on Wednesday. Late this morning, the stock wastrading up 6 cents, at $1.94 per share.

Writer George Hohmann can be reached at 348-4836 or by e-mail atbusiness@dailymail.com.