History & Staff
We have years of experience caring for families, from all walks of life. Each family comes to us because they know we are leaders in our profession, dedicated to excellence in service, and have the highest integrity.
Our History
Hopewell Funeral Home and Hopewell Memorial Gardens is a family business, owned and operated by the McDonald family. This pioneering family settled the area around 1860, and named the area Hopewell in honor of their prior home of Hopewell, Alabama. The family legacy continues to grow with seven generations of family living, working and serving the community.
In the early years, the McDonalds were farmers, primarily in citrus groves, until Glen McDonald purchased a funeral home in Plant City. Glen, a fourth generation McDonald, and his wife Doris, formally of the Jordan family of Tampa, met at Camp Blanding while serving together in the United States Army. Shortly thereafter, they married and settled in Glen’s hometown of Hopewell. Glen, while working in the family business and with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, became acquainted with a few funeral service professionals and developed an affinity for the industry. Around 1969, he parlayed that affinity into a family business by purchasing Hopkins Funeral Home in downtown Plant City, which he later named Colonial Funeral Home.
To complement the funeral home, Glen and Doris established Hopewell Memorial Gardens by transitioning several acres of the family’s citrus groves into a cemetery. Glen continued to operate the funeral home while Doris and their daughters Margie Willis and Glenda Haney operated the cemetery. Later, the family decided to sell the funeral home in order to establish a funeral home, Hopewell Funeral Home, next to the cemetery. Margie and Glenda assumed the responsibility of managing the newly formed Hopewell Funeral Home and Hopewell Memorial Gardens. Glenda received her Funeral Director and Embalmer license in 1989 after graduating from the Miami Dade Mortuary Science program. Today, Margie and Glenda continue to own the business and Edwena Haney, Glenda’s daughter, serves as its President.
Hopewell Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens is centrally located in Hillsborough County, Florida, serving Plant City, Lithia, Valrico, Lakeland, Brandon and surrounding communities.