About Us
Vice President
William C Harris Funeral Directors- Spanish Lake
1645 Redman Road | St Louis, Missouri
P: 314-868-9500
William C. “Bill” Harris, Jr. CFSP, is a native of the St. Louis metropolitan area. He is the fourth child and the only son born on February 13, 1965 to William C. Harris, Sr. and Gloria Joyce Harris and the brother to Pamela Denise, Deborah Elaine, and Amber Lynn Harris.
He attended the University City School District. He began his tenure in the funeral profession at the age of twelve years old. He was hired at the Ellis Funeral Home in February of 1977 under the guidance of his godfather, Theodore V. Foster, Sr. and Mr. Fulton E. Culkin. In 1981, Bill went to work at Ted Foster & Sons Funeral Home. Upon his graduation from high school in January 1983, he was given an opportunity to become a licensed funeral director by taking the state required exam for funeral directing which was given on February 23, 1983, ten days after his eighteenth birthday.
In the fall of 1991, Bill enrolled at the St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, for Funeral Service Education. While a student, he was afforded the opportunity to travel to London, England with his class to study the culture of funeral service at the Fredrick W. Payne Undertaking Company, which was a registered site of the British Institute of Embalming, where he received a certificate from the British Institute of Embalming. He then graduated in the spring of 1993 with an Associates degree in Applied Science.
In 1999, Bill was elected secretary for the Missouri State Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association and held that position until 2008. He also became a member of the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association as a board member. In 2000, he went to work at the Wade Funeral Home as a funeral director. In 2002, he became associated with the Stygar Family of Funeral Service, where he was an independent contract funeral director. In 2004, Bill received his CFSP certification from the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice and at that time he was the only African American funeral director in his area with the certification, “Certified Funeral Service Practitioner”. On June 30, 2006, Bill purchased the funeral home, in which he was working, from the Stygar family. Now licensed as, William C. Harris Funeral Directors & Cremation Service.
At present, he is a member of the H. McGhee Alexander Lodge # 3 PHA, and a Noble of the Medinah Temple # 39, Desert of Missouri and Oasis of St. Louis. He is a member of 100 Black Men of Greater St. Louis, board member of the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center, a member of the Royal Vagabonds, Inc, and a board member of the Royal Vagabonds Foundation. Bill was afforded the opportunity to have his five minutes of fame as the lead role in a reality based television show “Funeral Boss”.
