DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker at Clarendon tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some businesses are here today and gone tomorrow. And then some — some put down roots so deep you can't imagine the town without them.
This is the story of one of those. It starts with a man named Pleasant Andrew Buntin. Born in Kentucky in 1849, he brought his family to Texas in 1879, settling first in Mobeetie, over in Wheeler County.
That tells you something about the man right there — Mobeetie was about as frontier as frontier got. But Buntin wasn't the type to stay put when opportunity was movin'. When the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad arrived in Clarendon in 1888, the Buntins moved right along with the future.
And once he was in Clarendon, P.A. Buntin did not exactly sit still. He rode a mail route — and I want you to hear that — rode it from Clarendon through Palo Duro Canyon and Schott Gap, over in Briscoe County, all the way to the Caprock and back.
Sixty miles, round trip, in a single day. Changing wagons and horses along the way just to make it happen. He also ran a dairy.
He was a charter member of the Methodist church in Clarendon. Charter member of the Masonic lodge. The man was woven into the fabric of that town like a good saddle stitch.
Then, in 1899, at this very site, Buntin established a funeral home — one of the earliest in the entire Texas Panhandle. Out there on the Panhandle plains, where communities were spread wide and thin, having someone willing to serve that widespread area wasn't just a business. It was a calling.
He and his wife Lucy Jane — she was a Gibbs before she was a Buntin — had four children. And their youngest son Fred, well, Fred had clearly been watching his father all his life. Fred attended Clarendon College, then went on to the Dallas School of Embalming, and in 1919 he joined his father's company.
The business territory by that point covered several counties — a reach that matched the sheer size of Panhandle life. Now here's a name that'll catch your ear. Among the notable early burials conducted by the Buntin family were those of pioneer ranchers Charles Goodnight and Mary Ann Goodnight — she was a Dyer before she was a Goodnight — and those services were held in the nineteen-twenties.
The Buntins were there for the passing of ranching legends. That's the weight this business carried. Then came World War II.
And the Buntin Funeral Home, civic-minded as ever, did something quietly remarkable. They provided military service plaques for families to display in the windows of their homes — blue stars for those serving on active duty, gold stars for those who had fallen. Think about what it meant to walk down a Clarendon street and read those windows.
The Buntins made sure those families had a way to say it. The family sold the business in 1945, though the Buntin name stayed in use alongside others for several years after. A number of families came to be associated with the operation across the decades — including, from 1977, the Robertsons, who for a time also owned another funeral parlor right there in Clarendon.
More than a century at one site. Through the pioneer days and the railroad boom, through two world wars and the passage of ranching legends. Pleasant Andrew Buntin was born in 1849 and lived until 1941.
He saw a whole world come and go. And at this spot in Clarendon, the business he built just kept on serving — which, when you think about it, is about the most Texan kind of staying power there is.
What the marker says
For more than a century, this site has been the location of a funeral home, a vital community business serving a widespread area of the Panhandle. Kentucky native Pleasant Andrew Buntin (1849-1941) brought his family to Texas in 1879, settling first in Mobeetie (Wheeler Co.). The Buntins moved to Clarendon in 1888 following the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad. P.A. Buntin rode a mail route from there through Palo Duro Canyon and Schott Gap (Briscoe Co.) to the Caprock, changing wagons and horses to make the 60-mile round trip in a single day. Buntin also operated a dairy, and he was a charter member of the Methodist church and the Masonic lodge in Clarendon. At this site in 1899, Buntin established a funeral home, one of the earliest in the Texas Panhandle. He and his wife, Lucy Jane (Gibbs), had four children, and their youngest son Fred continued in the family business. Fred attended Clarendon College and the Dallas School of Embalming, and joined his father's company in 1919. The business territory covered several counties, and notable early burials conducted by the family included pioneer ranchers Charles and Mary Ann (Dyer) Goodnight in the 1920s. During World War II, the civic-minded Buntin Funeral Home provided military service plaques -- with blue stars for active personnel and gold stars for casualties -- for families to display in the windows of their homes. The Buntins sold the business in 1945, although the family name remained in use with others for several years. A number of families have since been associated with the historic operation, including, from 1977, the Robertsons, who for a short time owned another funeral parlor in Clarendon. (2007)