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R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home has operated continuously in downtown Memphis, Tennessee since 1914. The home has held services for many prominent African-Americans, including Benjamin Hooks and Martin Luther King Jr. The Lewis family was known for its civic leadership.
King's first funeral took place on April 5, 1968, at R.S. Lewis Funeral Home in Memphis. After the shooting, King was taken by ambulance to the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital and was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. King's closest aides contacted Robert Lewis Jr.—a local funeral director who had first met King two days prior—to retrieve the body and prepare it for viewing.
It is located at 5668 Poplar Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee. Different species of trees of different ages, as well as bushes, can be found throughout the cemetery, enhancing the atmosphere of a park-like setting. The cemetery is noted for its Crystal Shrine Grotto, a hand-built cave depicting Biblical scenes built by artist Dionicio Rodriguez.
Lewie Ford (1889-1931) started the family funeral business and became allied with E.H. Crump, an influential white politician in Memphis and the state in the early 20th century. Newton Jackson Ford (1914–1986) was an undertaker and businessman, and his wife Vera (Davis) Ford (1915–1994), were prominent members of the African-American community.
Elmwood Cemetery is the oldest active cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. It was established in 1852 as one of the first rural cemeteries in the South. A funeral scene in Paramount's 1993 legal thriller The Firm was filmed here. [citation needed]
The driver, Solomon Jones, an employee of the Lewis Funeral Home, was one of the last people to speak to King before he was shot, and also attempted to chase the shooter, to no avail. After the shooting, King was taken by ambulance to the emergency ward at St. Joseph's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m.