Our Story
About McMikle Funeral Home
Welcome to McMikle Funeral Home, a place where care, dignity, and respect are at the heart of what we do. For years, we have been a pillar in the community, offering a serene and compassionate environment for families to commemorate their loved ones.
1951 was the beginning of a dream for Elgin and Sue McMikle. With a lot of faith and little else, they built their funeral home in East Prairie bringing the total number of Mississippi County funeral businesses to three. Their home, however, was the first one built separate from a furniture store. In 1954 Charleston welcomed the McMikle family to town through the encouragement of Dr. Orr’s family who made it possible to establish a branch location at 201 S. Center Street – the current location of the McMikle office today. They operated both facilities along with McMikle Flower and Gift Shop until 1968 when they closed the flower shop to dedicate their full time to their passion – the funeral business. In 1977 the decision was made to design and build a new chapel in Charleston that could better accommodate the families they would serve. The Charleston Chapel facility was dedicated on March 5, 1978, the 29th wedding anniversary of Elgin and Sue. In October 1990 the decision was made to consolidate the East Prairie branch to Charleston and the East Prairie facility was donated to the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home. The East Prairie Chapel now serves as the Flame of Hope Ministry Center for Nelson Memorial United Methodist Church in East Prairie.
On February 6, 2020, purchase of the former Blanchard Funeral Chapel in Sikeston was completed expanding their service area. After extensive renovation and added parking, the McMikle Funeral Home conducted their first service in the Sikeston chapel on March 22, 2020.
For a number of years, this business continued serving families through the difficult time of experiencing the loss of their loved one under the commitment of the founder's daughter, Mary Katherine McMikle Branum. Mary Katherine is now retired from the funeral business.

Parker becomes owner McMikle Funeral Home, Charleston and Sikeston, MO
Terry A. Parker, longtime employee of McMikle Funeral Home in Charleston and Sikeston, MO, assumed ownership of both firms January 31, 2024. Parker purchased the business in its entirety from owner Mary Katherine McMikle-Branum, daughter of the business founders, and her husband Bill Branum.
Parker, associated with McMikle Funeral Home since February 1989, became a licensed Missouri Funeral Director in July 1992 and is also a preneed agent funeral director. He is the second generation of the Parker family to be associated with the McMikle firm as his late parents, Jim and Sylvia Wilson Parker, also worked for the funeral home in years past.
A lifelong resident of Charleston, Parker has served as the Mississippi County Coroner since January 2002. He is a member and serves a church organist of the United Methodist Church in Charleston. Parker has also served on numerous boards throughout the Charleston and Mississippi County area. He and the funeral home are members of the Missouri Funeral Directors Association, The Southeast Missouri Funeral Directors Association as well as the National Funeral Directors Association.
McMikle Funeral Home offers complete funeral and cremation services. With Parker having grown up around the McMikle Family and having worked with them for 34 years, the business in a sense, remains the same family owned and operated firm with capable staff that includes his sister, Leslie D. Parker. Leslie comes to the funeral home after working 20 years for Charleston R-1 School District.
Additional staff includes Melinda Heaton, secretary and service assistant; Michelle Russom, office manager and bookkeeping; Scott Branam, licensed funeral director, embalmer, and preneed agent; Eric Starnes, licensed funeral director and embalmer; Jacquie Hinchey Castaneda, part-time secretary and service assistance, and maintenance, Keith Cook.
Part time employees include embalmer and funeral director, Scott Riley, as well service support staff -Charles Caldwell, John Walton, David McLucas, Daniel Adams, and Edmund McGuire.
Parker and his staff pledge to continue to serving Mississippi and Scott Counties with the same integrity and compassion known from the McMikle family for over 73 years.
Online Memorial
We can create a customized, online memorial for you to share with family and friends. The memorial includes the obituary and any photographs you wish to provide. It will serve as a place for visitors to post condolences, share memories, upload photos, and light candles in honor of your loved one.
Tribute Video
We can produce a personal tribute video that can be played at the service and online. Simply provide us with the photographs you want to include and we will transform them into a video celebration of your treasured memories. DVDs or USB thumb drives of the video are also available.
Ordering Flowers
We make it easy for friends and family to send flowers to your home or service to honor your loved one. We have partnered with local florists to offer the convenience of ordering directly from the obituary page of our website. You can also use this feature to select the flowers you would like at the service. This is a secure way to choose beautiful arrangements from the privacy and comfort of your home.
Sharing Service Details
We reduce the stress of contacting those who need the details of the service for your loved one. We post the dates and times of the service as part of the online memorial on our website. You can then either share the memorial on your Facebook or X page or copy the details from the site into an email or text. Both options give you the peace of mind that you have provided the necessary information to those who need it.
