Meet the Staff
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Arthur Hilbish, Funeral Director
Art is a founder of the Funeral Home. Art came to Eustis in 1960 when his parents built Eustis Bowling Lanes. He graduated from Eustis High School and Miami Dade Community College with an Associate of Science Degree. Art has held every office with the Eustis Chamber of Commerce and is very active in the Rotary Club of Eustis. He has served on the Boards of Directors of the Golden Triangle YMCA, Blue Lake Academy (a ministry of the First Baptist Church of Eustis) and was on the Founding Board of Hospice of Lake and Sumter.
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Carol Hilbish, Office Manager
Carol has lived in Eustis since 1960, graduated from Eustis High School and attended Lake Sumter Community College and Georgia Southern University. She and Art have two children, Tracey Kohler and Lory Baxley and feel richly blessed because they and their families all live in Eustis. Carol has been active in her children’s and grandchildren’s activities and is a member and past president of the PEO Sisterhood Chapter CA of Eustis. Carol and Art are members of the First Baptist Church of Eustis.
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Verdual Hamlin, Funeral Director
Verdual is a founder of the funeral home. Verdual and his wife Patty live in Eustis. Patty is recently retired from Hospice of Lake and Sumter where she served as a Social Worker. Verdual graduated from Mt. Dora High School in 1949 and moved to Eustis in 1958. He is a former City Commissioner and Mayor of Eustis (three times), a Rotarian, and member of Eustis Lodge 1578 BPOE. Verdual has two children; Susan Salazar of Eustis who teaches at Mascotte Elementary School and Billy, a computer networking engineer with Peabody Hotels. Mr. Hamlin is semi retired.
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Matt Pierson, Funeral Director
Matt is the manager of Steverson, Hamlin & Hilbish Funeral Home in Tavares and often works in the Eustis Chapel. Matt has been a Funeral Director since 1996 and lives in Eustis. He is a member of the Tavares Chamber of Commerce and has sponsored community events such as a blood donation drive.
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John Roemmelt, Funeral Director & General Manager
John was born in Brooklyn, NY and moved to Deltona from Middle Village, Queens in 1997. He graduated from the American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service in January 1991 and has been working in Funeral Service since 1989. He has a diverse work history in the funeral business and has been managing funeral homes for several years. Honesty, integrity, moral values and high standards are his chief concerns in the funeral home and his home life. An informative, no pressure approach has allowed him to successfully help client families. John is a Catholic and a 4th degree member of the Knight of Columbus. He spends most of his free time with his wife, Laura Anne, and two beautiful daughters and enjoys bass fishing, hunting, barbeques and his friends whenever possible.
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Jim Semesco, Area General Manager & Funeral Director
Jim is a native Floridian, having been born in Daytona Beach. He followed two generations of uncles and cousins into the funeral business in 1987. His career started as a staff associate at his uncle’s funeral home in Port Orange, Florida. He quickly found the funeral industry to be a good fit as he has a passion for people, and is someone who has felt the sadness that comes from sitting on the other side of the funeral director’s desk. From this, Jim found that he received great personal satisfaction from making that experience a little easier for someone else. Jim has been married since 1995 to his wife, Bev, and they have two boys, Hunter and Carter. His interests include spending time with his family, fishing, cooking, reading science fiction, and watching FSU football. Jim is a former Rotarian and a member of Eustis Lodge 1578, BPOE. |
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Louis Haines, Funeral Director
Lou was born in Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania and came to Florida in the early 1970s when he began his career with Hamlin & Hilbish Funeral Directors. Lou quickly found the satisfaction that comes from helping people. Lou lives in Eustis and is in charge of the preparation facility for the funeral home. He is a member of Eustis Lodge 1578 BPOE. Lou has a son, Drew, and enjoys baseball, especially following the Florida Gators throughout the southeast for games. He also enjoys passing his love for baseball onto children through coaching area little league teams for nearly a decade.
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Lewis Holland, Staff Associate and Courier.
Lewis has been with the firm since 1990. Lewis was born and raised in Eustis and is a graduate of Eustis High School. Lewis is a member of the First Baptist Church of Eustis and Eustis Lodge 1578 BPOE. He has three children, Mike a Funeral Director, Cindy, a Registered Nurse with Leesburg Regional Medical Center and Debbie a homemaker living in Mount Aria, NC and six grandchildren.
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Ed Futrell, Staff Associate
Ed retired from Great Western Bank. He and his wife Linda, a paralegal with Maggie Evans, Attorney, live in the Country Club of Mt. Dora and belong to the First Baptist Church of Eustis. Ed has three children who live out of state.
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Bill Hodge, Staff Associate and Chaplain
Bill and Sharon Hodge moved to Leesburg in 2006 from Gainesville, FL. They are members of the Leesburg Church of the Nazarene. Sharon is a Respiratory Therapist at Rotech Healthcare Inc. in Leesburg. Bill retired in 2006 as an Ordained Minister, having served in Congregational, Nazarene and Methodist churches (IL, MO, KS, CA, NY, IN, FL).
Bill has Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois, a Master of Divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California, a United Presbyterian Church, USA school. |
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