About Us

Juan is a 1977 graduate of Santa Rosa High School. He attended Eastern New Mexico University before entering the Dallas Institute of Mortuary Science in 1979. He graduated from DIMS in 1980, the same year he bought the Santa Rosa location. In 1981, Juan and wife Barbara purchased the Fort Sumner location from Walter and Coral Julian.

Juan and Barbara own and operate both locations with the help of a very dedicated staff.

Barbara was born in Santa Rosa, NM and was raised in Puerto de Luna, NM. She is a 1979 graduate of Santa Rosa High School. She attended Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, NM. She and Juan were married Juan Chavez in 1981, they purchased the Julian Mortuary in October 1981 and made Fort Sumner their home. Juan and Barbara operate both locations. They are the parents of three children, Andrew Chavez and his wife Annie of Fort Worth, TX, Roberto Chavez of Colorado Springs, CO and Anna Chavez Dwiggins and her husband Jeremy of Fort Worth, Texas.

Andrew Flores is a licensed Funeral Service Intern. He and his wife Christy call Fort Sumner home. Andrew works between the Fort Sumner and Santa Rosa locations.

McKayla (Gunn) Draper grew up in Fort Sumner. She is a 2012 graduate of Fort Sumner High School. She graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma with a Mortuary Science Degree in 2016. McKayla married Lane draper in April of 2017, and they moved to Okinawa, Japan. McKayla joined the Chavez Funeral Home staff in October of 2020 after Lane and McKayla decided to return to Fort Sumner. They have two children, Jack and Naomi Draper.