Our Roots in Big Spring
Here at Nalley-Pickle & Welch, the Welch family’s history in Big Spring runs deep, starting with the Eberley Funeral Home constructed in 1920 at 610 Scurry Street. Charles and Annie Eberley, both licensed funeral directors and embalmers, lived in a modest house behind the funeral home and served local families from this central location. In 1938, the Nalley Funeral Home began providing high-quality funeral services to the community, and J. C. Pickle came on staff in 1946 to form Nalley-Pickle Funeral Home in 1956.
Owner and Funeral Director Kasi Welch Baker’s grandparents and funeral home founders, Ernest and Mary Lynn Welch, purchased the Eberley Funeral Home in 1963 and renamed it River-Welch Funeral Home. A few short years later in the 1970s, their son, Tommy Welch, joined the business with his parents, ushering in the next generation of ownership for the Welch family.
For decades since, the Welch family has been involved in civic groups and the community, with subsequent owners Tommy Welch and Kasi Welch Baker attending and graduating from Big Spring High School.
From left to right: Kasi Welch Baker, Tommy Welch, Teresa Welch, and Ernest Welch
Changes and Renovations
In 1963, the Welches began construction on Nalley-Pickle Funeral Home’s Rosewood Chapel, which was completed in 1964. This tranquil chapel houses a beautiful rosewood pulpit, uniquely crafted stained glass windows, and paneling at the center front wall, which features a striking cross. In 1972, the Welches bought the Nalley-Pickle Funeral Home and carried out substantial renovations a few years later. Parking space more than doubled to allow more families to gather and honor their loved ones at this inviting and spacious facility.
Today at the Big Spring facility, there are ongoing and constant upgrades to outfit the funeral home space with amenities and modern technology such as livestreaming, as well as extensive and careful renovations to the Rosewood Chapel to maintain the building’s history, beauty, and integrity.
At both the Big Spring and Midland locations, the Welch family has focused on creating facilities that feel like beautiful homes—spaces that are inviting and can accommodate both intimate ceremonies and large services and gatherings. That thoughtfulness carries over to the locations’ clean and well-maintained landscaping, and to their limos and vehicles for family use, creating an experience for families beyond compare.
Tommy Welch and Kasi Welch Baker
Branching Out Across the Community
After serving the community for more than three decades, Kasi’s grandparents and her father, Tommy, donated the old Eberley Funeral Home building to the Boy Scouts of America in 1996.
As supporters of the Boy Scouts and their mission, the family wanted to give the nonprofit organization a facility to use, while hoping to preserve the building’s century-old history for the community.
Over the years, Nalley-Pickle & Welch has grown to include the gorgeous cemetery at Trinity Memorial Park and a state-of-the-art event venue called The Branch, along with The Welch Reception Center in Big Spring, the former home of Ernest and Mary Lynn. It’s the house in which they raised their four children and where Kasi spent many afternoons having tea parties and making mud pies in the backyard. Repurposing this beloved home as a place of life celebrations for Big Spring families has been a sincere joy for our funeral home.
Nalley-Pickle & Welch also owns and operates its own crematory in Midland as well as one in Big Spring, the only operating facility in the area.
Kasi Welch Baker and her family
Nalley-Pickle & Welch Today
Today Kasi Welch Baker proudly carries on her parents’ and grandparents’ legacy of exceptional service and family values to our neighbors in Big Spring and beyond.
Our caring staff members know the meaning of Texas hospitality and provide families with personalized care across our funeral, burial, and cremation services. Nalley-Pickle & Welch is proud to have employees who have served with the company for decades while hiring young, innovative staff members to develop a diverse and well-trained team to serve the Big Spring and Midland communities for generations to come.
No matter which location you choose, when you walk through the doors of our funeral home, you’ll feel like family.