Much like our products, many Coldspring customer relationships stand the test of time. Take the story of Sandra Conners and Terry Turrentine Irby. Sandra is a Coldspring Regional Sales Manager. Terry is a Managing Partner at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow, a family-owned funeral services business founded in 1945.
Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow operates three cemeteries and 14 funeral homes serving residents throughout North Texas, including the Dallas metro area. Sandra and Terry started working together through business related to the 65-acre Ridgeview Memorial Park in Allen, Texas, which is the largest of the three cemeteries located next to the company’s flagship Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow funeral home.
“We first became a customer of Coldspring in 1966, when my grandfather Audie Turrentine ordered a granite cross from Coldspring shortly after we purchased Ridgeview Memorial Park,” Terry said. “At the time, it was the largest solid granite cross in the United States, and the record still might hold today. We are very proud of this.”
Coldspring began supplying features for cemetery gardens shortly after the initial granite cross project. Over the years the partnership continued to progress and Coldspring team members Becky Howe and Keith Volkmann built a strong partnership with Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow prior to Sandra taking on the account. At the time that Sandra joined, the business was purchasing a full line of Coldspring memorial products. The relationship now includes everything from simple granite memorials to the design, fabrication and construction of complex columbariums and Private Estates® family mausoleums.
Most recently, Sandra and Terry’s teams collaborated on the completion of a new cremation niche complex surrounding the original granite cross at Ridgeview Memorial Park. Plans are also in the works for a major expansion to the cemetery that will be completed in phases over several years.
“I was a bit intimidated when I first started working with the account due to their scope of operations and my being the new kid on the block, but with each visit Terry and I became closer and now I consider her a good friend,” Sandra said. “My extended team has gotten to know the family personally. We collaborate very well together.”
Sandra sees similarities between how Coldspring and Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow treat their customers, their business partners and one another. “Both companies have been family-owned for generations, and you can see how their leadership is influenced by family values and a desire to build something bigger than themselves for the future,” she said. “I see firsthand how Terry treats her team, and the level of care she shows for them has only deepened our friendship.”
According to Terry, the respect goes both ways. “It takes hard work and dedication to keep a longstanding family business going. We admire Coldspring’s commitment to community, employees, customers, quality and the legacy they have built over the last 125 years,” she said. “Everyone assigned to our account does an outstanding job and have become like family to us. Coldspring is simply the best at what they do — and what they represent as a company makes them an even better fit for us.”
To learn more about Coldspring and view a timeline of the company’s rich history, visit www.coldspringusa.com/about