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Dealing with a death is messy. It's confusing. You’re sitting there in a quiet room in Cornelia, trying to figure out if you need a solid walnut casket or if a simple cremation is more "them," and suddenly you realize you’re making some of the most expensive and emotional decisions of your life on four hours of sleep. This is exactly where McGahee Griffin Stewart funeral home Cornelia Georgia enters the picture.
Most people in Habersham County just call it "McGahee’s." But if you’ve been paying attention lately—specifically since August 2024—you might have noticed the sign changed slightly to McGahee-Griffin & McEntire.
Kasey McEntire, a local guy who’s been in this business since he was a teenager, bought the place from the Stewart family. Honestly, in a world where massive corporations are quietly buying up every family-owned funeral home in the South, seeing a local resident take the reins is a big deal for people here. It keeps that "neighbor helping neighbor" vibe alive rather than turning a funeral into a cold, corporate transaction.
What's the Real Deal With the Name Change?
You might still be searching for McGahee Griffin Stewart funeral home Cornelia Georgia because that’s the name etched into the community’s collective memory for the last few decades. The Stewarts ran things with a lot of class from the late 90s until recently. Before them, it was the Griffins. And before them, you go all the way back to 1936 when Floyd Holbrook started the whole thing.
Basically, the history of this building is the history of Cornelia itself. It’s moved around a bit—from Hodges and Wells Street to that famous old A.B. Irvin home on North Main—and finally to the current spot on VFW Post Road.
- 1936: Holbrooks Funeral Home opens.
- 1959: Moves to the historic A.B. Irvin residence.
- 1981: Renamed McGahee-Griffin after Weyman and Claudette Griffin took over.
- 1999: The big move to the modern 175 VFW Post Road facility.
- 2024: Kasey McEntire buys the firm, leading to the current McGahee-Griffin & McEntire name.
Kasey isn't a stranger. He graduated from Habersham Central in 2001 and has been an embalmer and director for years. If you go to Line Baptist Church in Alto, you’ve probably seen him playing the piano. That’s the kind of guy you’re dealing with—someone who’s actually part of the fabric of the county, not some regional manager from an office in Atlanta or Houston.
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Is the VFW Post Road Facility Actually Better?
Look, some people missed the charm of the old house on Main Street. It had that "Southern Gothic" comfort. But the facility at 175 VFW Post Road was built for a reason. Have you ever tried to find parking at a funeral in a converted historic home? It’s a nightmare.
The current building has a chapel that seats 250 people. It’s got actual "breathing room" for visitations, which matters when half the county shows up for a well-known teacher or farmer. There’s a family lounge where you can actually sit and have a cup of coffee without feeling like you're in the way. It’s modern, but they’ve kept it from feeling like a sterile doctor’s office.
Costs and Decisions: The Part No One Likes to Talk About
Funerals are expensive. Period.
Back in 2019, the General Price List (GPL) for McGahee Griffin Stewart funeral home Cornelia Georgia showed a basic service fee of around $2,195. That’s just the starting point—the "professional services" fee that covers the 24-hour availability and the paperwork. By the time you add a casket, a vault, and the actual service, you’re looking at a significant investment.
- Caskets: These can range from a few hundred for a simple cremation container to over $8,000 for something like a solid walnut "Diplomat."
- Vaults: If you’re doing a traditional burial, most cemeteries in Georgia require an outer burial container. Those can run from $1,000 for a basic grave liner to nearly $12,000 for solid bronze.
- Cremation: This has become way more popular in Habersham lately. It’s generally more affordable, but it doesn't mean you can't have a full visitation or a chapel service first.
Kasey and his staff are pretty transparent about this stuff. They aren't trying to "upsell" you into a copper casket if your budget says otherwise. They know that if they treat a family poorly during their worst week, the whole town will hear about it by Sunday morning at church.
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Traditional vs. Contemporary Services
One thing this funeral home does well is balancing the "old school" with the new. You still have the classic graveside service with the black hearse and the formal pallbearers. But they also do a lot more with digital tributes now.
They’ll take your old polaroids and digital photos and whip up a tribute video that plays during the visitation. It sounds small, but when you’re standing there in line, seeing those photos of your grandfather as a young man helps break the tension. It makes it a celebration rather than just a mourning.
They also offer "Life Celebrants." If the deceased wasn't particularly religious or didn't have a home church, these celebrants focus more on the "story" of the person’s life rather than a traditional sermon. It's a nice option to have in a town that is traditionally very "Bible Belt."
Why the "Stewart" Name Still Pops Up
Even though Kasey McEntire owns it now, people still search for "McGahee Griffin Stewart" because the Stewart family—specifically those associated with the Tim Stewart firms in other areas—built a massive reputation for reliability.
Sometimes you’ll see a shared obituary where a visitation is held at a Tim Stewart location in Lawrenceville and then the funeral happens at the McGahee-Griffin & McEntire chapel in Cornelia. This happens when a family has roots in both Gwinnett and Habersham counties. It’s a logistical lifesaver for families split across the North Georgia region.
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Practical Steps If You Need Their Help Right Now
If you've just lost someone, don't just wander around the house. There are a few things you need to do before you even pull into the parking lot at 175 VFW Post Road.
- Locate the "Files": You need their social security number, any military discharge papers (DD-214), and a recent photo for the obituary.
- Check for a Pre-Plan: A lot of folks in Cornelia have already paid for their funerals. Check their safe deposit box or their "important papers" folder. It might already be settled.
- Call the Home: (706) 778-8668. They are there 24/7. Seriously. Someone will answer the phone at 3:00 AM.
- Decide on the "Big Two": Burial or Cremation? You don't need to know the casket model yet, but you need to know which path you're taking.
When you walk in, you’ll likely meet Kasey or someone like Mr. Addis. They’re going to walk you through a lot of paperwork, but they handle the hard stuff like getting the death certificates from the state and notifying Social Security.
The transition from the Stewart era to the McEntire era has been pretty seamless for Cornelia. The name on the sign is a little longer, but the way they treat people hasn't changed. It’s still about getting through that one hard hour in the chapel so you can start trying to figure out what life looks like next.
To get started with an arrangement or to check a recent obituary, the best move is to visit their official site directly or head over to the facility on VFW Post Road to speak with a director in person.