Near the beginning of the 1900s, Claude Logan Ryley, one of Kentucky’s leading coal producers and dealers, had a fine residence constructed for his family at 161 Broadway in Versailles, Kentucky. Upon his death, he willed the home to his grandson, Ken Ryley, who sold the property to Ber Rasnick and Scott Miller in the late 1940s.
In 1948, Mr. Miller and Mr. Rasnick founded the Miller-Rasnick Funeral Home. In 1957, Mr. Rasnick sold his interest in the firm to Mr. Leslie J. Blackburn, Jr., and the firm became known as Miller-Blackburn Funeral Home. Mr. Miller and Mr. Blackburn continued to develop the business, and in 1977, Mr. Blackburn became the firm's sole proprietor and changed the name to the Blackburn Funeral Home.
Mr. Blackburn retired in 1989, when Mr. J. Steve Ward, a longtime employee of Mr. Blackburn’s, acquired the business and changed the name to Blackburn & Ward Funeral Home. Mr. Ward continued to grow the business until January 1, 2017, when upon his retirement, he sold the business to Mr. William B. Butcher.
Today, the firm is owned and operated by Mr. William B. Butcher, CFSP, and Mrs. Leigh Ann Butcher, CFSP. With the help of their dedicated staff, the Butchers continue to care for the families of Woodford County and all of Central Kentucky during their most difficult times. The Butchers have extended that same level of care for even more of Central Kentucky as they became the sole owners and operators of Tucker, Yocum & Wilson Funeral Home in Georgetown, Kentucky on November 18, 2021.