Carriage Services continuously seeks to achieve our Mission Statement of Being the Best, and build a high performance company that is built to last. Co-founded in 1991 in Houston, Texas by Mel Payne, Mel has since led Carriage as our only Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Since day one, we have also been guided by our Mission Statement and our Five Guiding Principles: Honesty, integrity and quality in all that we do.\nHard work, pride of accomplishment and shared success through employee ownership.Belief in the power of people through individual initiative and teamwork.Outstanding service and profitability go hand-in-hand. Growth of the company is driven by decentralization and partnership. Our vision, our mission and our guiding principles for Carriage are not negotiable, and never will be.