Barbara P. Poole

A Foundation Built on Service

On October 1, 1978, Barbara Poole and her husband L. Harold Poole opened the doors of L. Harold Poole Funeral Service & Crematory in Knightdale, North Carolina — fulfilling Harold's lifelong vision of serving his hometown community. Harold, a 1965 Knightdale High School graduate who studied mortuary science at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science and graduated in 1968, had spent years working toward that goal. Barbara stood beside him, and then, in time, carried the work forward.

What followed was nearly five decades of building something worth inheriting: a family-owned independent funeral home that grew from a small community operation into a trusted institution — and a model for how a business can be both successful and deeply rooted in service to others.

Licenses and Professional Standing

Barbara holds licenses as a Funeral Director and Crematory Operator in North Carolina, and also holds a cosmetology license — credentials that reflect not just the regulatory requirements of the profession, but a hands-on commitment to the full range of care that families deserve.

She serves as District 3 Director of the North Carolina Funeral Directors Association, bringing the perspective of an independent operator to one of the state's most important professional bodies. Her participation is not ceremonial — it reflects decades of watching how regulatory decisions affect real funeral homes and real families.

Community Leadership

Barbara has been an active presence in the Knightdale community for nearly 40 years — a member, and eventually a board director, of the Knightdale Chamber of Commerce. Her philosophy on that commitment is direct: "If you are going to operate a business in Knightdale or surrounding communities, I believe you should be a part of the chamber. There is no way you can buy what it offers to the community."

In 2017, the Knightdale Chamber recognized Barbara with its Citizen of the Year award — presented at the 45th Annual Membership Banquet on April 10, 2018. The citation described a career defined by "a solid foundation of stewardship, leadership and service towards enhancing the lives of individuals and building a sense of community in Knightdale and surrounding areas."

Investing in the Next Generation

Barbara and L. Harold Poole established an endowed scholarship at Fayetteville Technical Community College to support students studying mortuary science — ensuring that the profession they gave their lives to would continue to attract capable, committed people. It is a legacy that reflects their belief that building community means investing in it long after the immediate work is done.

The Barbara Poole Agency

The Barbara Poole Agency is the natural next chapter: applying nearly five decades of operational knowledge to help other funeral homes build preneed programs that last. Barbara's consulting is grounded in what she actually experienced — the owner's side of the desk, the weight of making payroll, the trust families place in a funeral home that has earned it.

She is not a carrier representative or a training franchise. She is someone who built a funeral home, ran it with her husband, kept it going, and now brings that experience to serve funeral homes that want to do the same.

"Stewardship, leadership, and service" — that is how the community described Barbara Poole's career. It is also the standard she holds for every funeral home she works with.