AJ Daoud

President/Owner - Funeral Director - Embalmer

AJ entered funeral service full time in 1986 after a career in law enforcement & became nationally known in the industry for writing articles & speaking to several organizations about his progressive ideas about funeral service. 

AJ is a licensed funeral director & embalmer in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida & Texas.  His expertise in funeral service has led him to become appointed to serve on several national committees in funeral service organizations.  In his career, he has guided & served thousands of families during their time of need.

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Wendy Brannock

Regional Manager - Funeral Director - Embalmer - Crematory Operator

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Carly Shumate

Funeral Service Licensee

Carly has been in the funeral industry, in some form or another since she was only 16.  She graduated with an AAS in Mortuary Sciences from Tidewater Comm. College in 2012.

After almost a decade of working as a certified crematory operator, both for pets & people, she has now obtained her license as a NC & VA Funeral Director & Embalmer.  She also has plans to obtain a Bachelors degree in Funeral Management.

Carly came to American Funeral Partners in October of 2020 as an apprentice.  Since then, she has helped manage Carolina Cremation Center & now travels between our multiple sister funeral home locations to help serve families wherever they may be.

In her time away from work, she enjoys spending the day with her husband, John & son, Daniel & her favorite fur-child, Ava Lou.

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Joe Clay

Funeral Director - Pre-Need Specialist - Manager of Huff Funeral Home

Joe has been with our company since August 2011 & has over 20 years of experience in the funeral industry.  Joe is a licensed funeral director & specializes in pre-planning.  He is also the manager of our sister location, Huff Funeral Home in East Bend.

In his free time, Joe loves spending time with his wife, Jessica & their four kids, Madison, Kyleigh, Kaydon & Weston.  They spend much of their time together chasing ballfields & gyms as their kids are very active in sports.  He is very grateful for the patience & understanding his wife has when it comes to his crazy work schedule.

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Rebecca Hinshaw

Rebecca is the office manager for our sister location, Huff Funeral Home in East Bend.  She plays a vital role in our day-to-day activities here at Carolina Cremation Center.  Rebecca specializes in the laws & regulations of the funeral trade.

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Austin Martin

Certified Crematory Operator

Nick Burton

Certified Crematory Operator

Brayden Craddock

Certified Crematory Operator

Brayden worked for our company helping to run our crematory location at the beginning of 2022.  He then took a short break to focus on education.  We are so blessed to have him back with us as a funeral attendant.

He is now in school for mortuary sciences at Fayetteville Tech.