About Us

Celebrating life since 1929
As a family-owned and operated funeral home serving Nashville and Middle Tennessee since 1929, we take great pride in helping families honor their loved ones. Our dedication lies in ensuring that every funeral and memorial service is a profoundly personal experience, fostering healing and creating lasting memories.
Our promise
Today, tomorrow, and forever, our commitment to you stays the same.

Dignity
Every life is unique, and we promise to honor and respect each journey, crafting ceremonies that reflect each individual.

Guidance
Navigating grief can be overwhelming; we stand by you, providing direction and solace every step of the way.

Legacy
Beyond a service, we're committed to helping families create lasting tributes that transcend generations.
Our story
Phillips-Robinson Funeral Home has been serving the Nashville community for over 96 years. In 1929, our founders H. Dayton Phillips, Maude Muriel Robinson, and Garner Robinson sought a way to bring meaning, warmth, and compassion to the families of Old Hickory. By establishing their family owned funeral home, they were able to devote their time and efforts to serving families and helping them through one of the most difficult times in their lives.
Phillips-Robinson Funeral Home began in Rayon City, providing "ambulance and funeral services." In 1932, the East Nashville location was opened, and now serves as the main office. Today, three generations later, we remain one of Nashville's few family owned funeral businesses, offering families quality services at an affordable price.
The Phillips-Robinson tradition was carried on through the years with the leadership of Maude Muriel Robinson, H. Dayton Phillips, Garner Robinson and Robb Robinson. Today, Phillips-Robinson is still family owned and is operated under the direction of Gale Robinson, Owner, President and Funeral Director; Rachel Knott, Vice President and General Manager; and Katherine Robinson Sloan, Secretary and Treasurer; and a staff extremely qualified to serve every family's needs. We have expanded to include an on site full service, state of the art Crematory. Since 1929, "We pride ourselves on our care for your loved ones."
50K+
Legacies Honored
96
Years in Business
5M+
Moments Remembered
Our incredible staff
Helping families create lasting legacies is more than a job — it's our calling. We are here to support you in any way we can and will offer you the full attention, knowledge, and compassion you need.

Ali Klotz
Funeral Director / Embalmer

Stanley Joel Churchwell
Funeral Director

Norman Robinson
Operations (Non-Licensed)

Kenneth McWhorter
Funeral Assistant (Non-Licensed)

Ruth Elkins
Funeral Assistant (Non-Licensed)

Gene King
Funeral Assistant (Non-Licensed)
1 of 13

Gale Robinson
President and Owner - Funeral Director
Gale Robinson is native of Nashville and a 1974 graduate of Goodpasture Christian School. Gale received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) in 1980. He received his Law Degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1984. Gale is a 3rd generation funeral director and in 2009 became sole owner of Phillips-Robinson. Gale also oversees and operates our onsite crematory. Gale and his wife, Nancy Oakley, have been married for 35 years and have four children.
Gale is a member of the Nashville Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association, Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference, American Judges Association, Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Madison-Rivergate Chamber of Commerce and the Old Hickory Chamber of Commerce. He is the proud recipient of the Good Guys Award by Nashville Women’s Political Caucus. He was awarded the Judge Jane Wheatcraft award from the Tennessee Task Force against Domestic Violence and was the Local Government Official of the Year from the Nashville Coalition against Domestic Violence.
Gale is a member Jere Baxtor-Edgefield Lodge #254, a 32nd Degree Scottish and York Right Mason, and a proud Al Menah Shriner. He has served as the captain of the Motor Corp., Potentate (CEO). He is an Emeritus Representative to Shriners International and presently serves on the Grievances and Appeals Committee.
Gale has served his community as a General Sessions Judge for 23 years and has participated in the family funeral home for over 20 years. Gale and Nancy are members of Jackson Park Church of Christ and he is an avid Harley-Davidson motorcyclist.

Rachel Knott
Vice President and General Manager - Funeral Director/Embalmer
A native of Nashville, Rachel has been with Phillips-Robinson
Funeral Home since 2003. She graduated from David Lipscomb High School 1994. Rachel received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from David Lipscomb University and an Associate’s degree in Mortuary Science from John A. Gupton College. Rachel is very proud of her family. Both of her parents are teachers, teaching in the Metro School System. Her brother is a Chief in the U.S. Navy and is married to Rachel’s best friend, Abby. Rachel’s nephew is the smartest, nicest ten year old anyone could meet and she never spoils him. Rachel serves on the board of directors for the Old Hickory Chamber of Commerce and is an active member of the Donelson-Hermitage YMCA. Rachel is an avid animal lover and supports the Nashville Humane Association. She resides in Hermitage with her goofy dog, Benson.

Matthew Terry
Manager of Hadley Chapel - Funeral Director/Embalmer
In 2004 Matt Terry graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from East TN State University in his native Johnson City, TN. In 2005, on a whim and realizing that he no longer wanted to work in his chosen field, he moved to Nashville to attend John A. Gupton College of Mortuary Science.
Upon graduation he joined with Phillips-Robinson
Funeral Home and began working under the mentorship of both Charlie Worrell and Gale Robinson, becoming a licensed funeral director the following year.
Since becoming a funeral director Matt has been privileged to get to know and serve the families of East Nashville and Old Hickory. He has been honored and humbled to be welcomed into their families and to call them his own. Funeral service is a career that he had never envisioned, but now can’t see himself doing anything else.
In the last year Matt put down roots in East Nashville by buying his first home. He quickly realized that he now has no spare time because of all the work that goes into fixing it up. His dream is to one day finish the work, but deep down knows that it will never, ever, ever be done.

Adam Rodgers
Funeral Director/ Embalmer
A graduate of Northwest Mortuary School in Southaven, Mississippi with an Associate's Degree of Applied Sciences, Adam has over 20 years of experience in funeral service. Originally from West, Tennessee, Adam has lived in the Madison/Inglewood area for 11 years and joined Phillips-Robinson Funeral Home in early 2010.

Katherine Robinson Sloan
Administrative Assistant (Non-Licensed)
A graduate of MTSU with a BS Degree in Mass Communication, Katherine is our Business Administrative and Secretary/Treasurer. She oversees accounts payable and receivable, advertising, media content and insurance claims. Born and raised in Nashville, Katherine graduated High School from Goodpasture Christian School. She followed a young dream of being a photographer for several years and truly feels she made the best move nine years ago…Working with her family here at the funeral home. She is grateful to help the Funeral Directors and serving the families through an undeniably dark time. Katherine is married to her high school sweetheart, Lyell. Together they have three children and reside in Hendersonville. She still loves to dabble in photography which now just consists of hundreds of images of her own children.

Cathy Mason
Office Assistant (Non-Licensed)
Cathy has been with Phillips-Robinson for over 20 years. She enjoys working in funeral service and oversees special projects such as our Annual Tree of Memories program every December. She is a native of Rutherford County and enjoys singing Gospel music.

Donna Fister
CPA / Accounting (Non Funeral Staff)
Donna is a C.P.A. and graduated from Murray State University with a degree in Accounting. She has been with Phillips-Robinson Funeral home for 10 years. Her family has resided in the Nashville area for the past 30 years.
A place of healing
We welcome you to explore the Phillips-Robinson Funeral Home facilities, and invite you to discover a comforting and peaceful place to honor your loved one.
A time to honor, comfort and heal
We help create unique and meaningful memorial services to celebrate your loved one and begin the healing process for families and friends left behind.

We’ll take care of every detail
We'll help you with everything you need with a simple step-by-step process for all of your funeral, cremation and cemetery plans.

Unique Funerals and Tributes
Every individual is unique. Which is why we offer fully customizable memorial services designed just for your family.

Compassionate customer care
We're here to answer any questions and help in any way we can – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
“Great people & very easy to work with .”
Author:— Laura Gunter rated with 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Staff was very professional, understanding, and answered all our questions. It was a blessing to be able to handle paperwork online instead of sitting in an office while grieving.”
Author:— Valerie Laemmel rated with 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Gale Robinson and Adam the director were so very helpful and kind and kept me posted on everything that was going to happen and when.”
Author:— Lori Smith rated with 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“These are top notch professionals, very sensitive to their clients' needs and wants.”
Author:— Marsha Anderson rated with 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“I could not be more pleased then the way the staff of Phillips Robinson treated me and my family during our time of grieving. They were very caring and patient with us. Very professional.”
Author:— Timothy Recaldini rated with 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“The personnel at Phillip-Robinson were extremely helpful in my time of need. They were both compassionate and professional. As someone having to handle everything from out of state, I couldn't have found anyone better. Thanks Ali, you were great!”
Author:— Chole Cheshire rated with 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
1 of 6 1 of 6
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1929
Our commitment to serving your family goes beyond mere words. Since 1929, our firm has remained family-owned and family-operated. In a time when many funeral homes are corporate-owned, we have no sales goals to achieve or corporate boards to satisfy. Our sole focus is on you – the families we are privileged to serve. Our legacy for over 96 years.















Related links

Plan for the future, today
Honoring our legacy...
We pay tribute to and honor the legacy of our founders... and pledge to continue upholding the values they established in 1929 - humbly provide caring and exceptional service with knowledge and expertise and serve everyone equally and fairly with steadfast integrity.
Today, 3rd generation owner, Gale Robinson and staff continue to proudly follow the motto our founders first established:
"We pride ourselves on our care for your loved ones."
