Viss Family Funeral Home purchased by Carnleys

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

On Monday, March 27, Zach and Courtney Carnley of Lampasas closed on the purchase of Viss Family Funeral Home, formerly owned by Ronnie Viss.

The Carnleys own and operate Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel in Lampasas. This will be the Carnleys’ second funeral home location. 

Zach is a lifelong resident of Lampasas and has been in the funeral services business for 19 years. He and his wife established Sneed-Carnley in January of 2020, after acquiring Sneed Funeral Home. 

“The Central Texas area is where I was born and raised. I mean, I literally was born in Lampasas, in the hospital here, and I graduated high school here. People are seeing me out and about, and I plan to spend my time between both locations,” Carnley said.

The late Ronnie Viss and Carnleys operating their own funeral homes came about during the same time period, as Viss had purchased his location from Scott’s Funeral Home. Both he and Zach developed a friendship over the past couple of years after the Carnleys acquired their home in Lampasas.

“Ronnie and I became pretty close  friends; we texted and called a lot, visited each other a lot, and bounced a lot of ideas off each other. In that two-year time frame, we became pretty tight,” Zach said.

After Viss passed away in May 2022, Viss’ friend and business partner, Daren Moore, had continued to operate the facility. 

“(Ronnie) worked really hard to build his base here and he became known for his compassionate and community driven service and he was very involved in the community too,” Zach said. 

The Carnleys plan to deliver the same care that Viss did to the families who come to them for help and comfort in laying a loved one to rest. 

Zach said that last year, they installed an on-site crematorium. 

“From now on, all families that do cremation with our funeral services, the cremation will be completely handled under us. It’ll be right at our crematorium. I think that people like to know that once we pick up their loved one, they don’t ever leave our care,” he said.

The Carnleys plan to complete the changeover in the next couple of months, with new signs and a new website, but locals shouldn’t expect anything else to change. 

“We just want people to be assured that just because it’s a new owner coming in, there will be no dramatic changes. We plan to try to continue on in the same way that Ronnie did.”

“We wish more than anything that Ronnie could still be here to continue doing what he loved,” Abigail Neil, funeral director at Viss Family Funeral Home, said in a press release. “But we feel comforted knowing that someone like Zach, who understands Ronnie’s vision and has the determination to uphold the level of care he was striving for, is taking over the business. I think that would make Ronnie happy.”

Sneed-Carnley assists with prearrangement and preplanning, full funeral services, cremation services, burial services, memorial services, and veterans services. To learn more, please visit https://www.sneedfuneralchapel.com/.