Kidd-Robbins Funeral Directors of Demopolis announced on Tuesday that the business would be transferred to Kirk Funeral Homes of Greensboro, effective April 1.

Kidd-Robbins owner Bobby Kidd said the decision was based on health reasons. The business will remain open at its current location on U.S. Highway 80 as Kirk Funeral Home Demopolis Chapel.

“I was appreciative when Bobby called me and told me he was retiring and asked me if my family and I would take over his funeral home,” said Kirk Funeral Home owner Sherrill Neeland Kirk. “I hope our family can be of service to Marengo County and the surrounding counties as Mr. Kidd has.”

In a letter to Kidd-Robbins’ vendors and creditors, Kidd said, “We have appreciated doing business with you over the years, and we feel sure that you will have an excellent relationship with the new owner.”

Kidd-Robbins was named the 2008 Business of the Year by the Demopolis Area Chamber of Commerce, the first sole-proprietor business to earn the award since the Chamber began issuing the awards in 1990.

Kidd began work in Demopolis in 1963 with Cook-Speigner Funeral Home at the same location. After 12 years there, he went to work for a grocery company in Montgomery for about seven years, then returned to Demopolis.

In 1995, Cook-Speigner was sold to Bumpers Funeral Home in Butler, which sold the business to Kidd.

“Demopolis was very good to me,” Kidd said. “All the people treated me like I was born and raised here. I had a good time here with our business and serving the public.”