In 2018, as Pamela Troutman-Strandburg was approaching retirement from her stewardship of Nicholson Funeral Home, it was of utmost importance to her that the new ownership continues the rich tradition of community, established all those years ago by W.T. Nicholson. After all, many of Mr. Nicholson’s descendants have remained in our community to this day. The search for a successor was long, but Pamela’s insistence on finding the perfect match led us to the current owner Donald R. Hughes. “Nicholson Funeral Home has served our community for more than 140 years, I’m confident that Mr. Hughes and his team will continue the tradition of community involvement and maintain that special family-owned and operated feel.”, says Pamela Troutman-Strandburg.

As part of the transition, Mr. Hughes announced that William “Bill” Brater, has assumed the role of President of Nicholson Funeral Home and will lead the day-to-day operations of the company. Bill has been a licensed funeral director for more than 40 years, has served as President of the Hospice of Iredell, President of the Chamber of Commerce, served 8 years on the School Board, and he’s currently serving on the Iredell County Board of Adjustments. Further, Mr. Brater continues to serve the community as a member of the board of directors of Iredell Memorial Hospital.

He is a member of the Greater Statesville Rotary Club, past President of the local Cancer Society & Heart Fund, former board member of the Greater Statesville Economic Development Corporation, Child Abuse Prevention Center Of Iredell County, and American Red Cross.

More notably, Bill was honored with the Citizen Of The Year award in 2000 from the Greater Statesville Chamber Of Commerce. Bill and his wife Linda have a long-standing reputation of serving the Statesville community, in addition to personally serving numerous families as their Funeral Director in their time of need. In his new role, Bill will continue to expand the company’s service options, develop market leading technology options for families, and expand into the newly planned Legacy Center soon to be announced. “My goal in taking on this new role is to ensure the transition is seamless for the community, to maintain the same familiar faces serving our families, expand our staff for the future, and build upon the rich tradition of this fine institution that we have proudly served for the families of Statesville and the surrounding areas for more than a century.

"It is my plan to expand on our hometown values with a staff that is family focused serving each as if they are my own", says Brater.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for our newly designed website & social media updates.

For a more detailed history of the funeral home, please click here.