Lewis Funeral Chapel

King's body for burialMEMPHIS, Tenn. - After Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination it was a family owned funeral home in South Memphis that prepared the civil rights leader to be laid to rest.It’s a 104-year-old funeral home that sits on the corner of Vance and Fourth Streets.After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King and he was pronounced dead, the former owner of the funeral home, Robert S. Lewis Jr, prepared Dr. King to be buried.      Trending stories: "He embalmed him, prepared him and did everything free of charge,” R.S. Lewis employee Richard Flowers said.In 1968, R.S. Lewis and Son had only four people on staff. Everyone who was on staff in that year has passed away.Only Andre Jones and Richard Flowers remain at the funeral home who can share stories that were told to them by the R.S. Lewis, Jr.Flowers shared with me the one and only time Mr. Lewis met Dr. King.        "I can remember Mr. Lewis telling me it was just amazing how he just spoke to him the day before on the third and on April the 4th he's looking at the man and preparing him,” Flowers said.Flowers said it was a request of Rev. Billy Kyles that Mr. Lewis prepare the body for burial."One of the other stories Mr. Lewis told was when they got here the building was surrounded by the National Guard to make sure nobody would try to come in and harm the body,” Flowers said.After being prepared for viewing, Dr. King was placed in the funeral home’s chapel.Since 1968, very little has changed in the chapel."They completed this chapel in March of 1968 and Dr. King was actually one of the first to lay here in this chapel,” Jones said.Flowers said the public viewing drew a line of more than four thousand people who wanted to pay their last respects to the civil rights icon.         "There was a constant flow they came in around. At the end when before going to the airport Dr. Billy Kyle, Dr. Lawson, Dr. Abernathy, and Rev. Jesse Jackson came and did ... (FOX13 Memphis)