Meet Our Staff

Anastasius “Stacy” Avist

Managing Partner - Funeral Director

Stacy has been in the funeral industry for over 35 years. She earned a Associates Degree from Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans, Louisiana while attending college she started working part time at D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home where she met her true calling “The Funeral Industry” the rest is “as we say “History”.

Stacy holds her license as a funeral director in the states of Louisiana and Texas. She grew up in a small town of Buras, Louisiana - sixty-five miles South of New Orleans where she was a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Harbor Catholic Church. Stacy is a devote Catholic.

After hurricane Katrina, Stacy relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas where she worked as a funeral director at Seaside and Corpus Christi Funeral Homes. In 2016 she relocated to Houston. She is excited about being back with her Carriage Family and getting out into the Cypress and surrounding communities.

Stacy is a devoted daughter to her parents, Larry and Agnes, a loving sister to her brother, Steve and her nephews, Larry III and Lance and great nephew Levi. She is also a Ride or Die Saints Fan, “Who Dat”

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Christy Keller

Licensed Funeral Director and Office Coordinator

Christy Keller started working at the Cypress-Fairbanks Funeral home in October of 2017 as the office coordinator.  She was born and raised in Wharton, Texas and then went on to pursue a degree in business management at Sam Houston State University in 2002.  Prior to working here, she has worked with NAPA Auto Parts for ten years and ran the office for a fire protection company for fourteen years.  She enjoyed helping the families the location served so much that she got her degree in funeral service in 2019 and graduated from Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service.

Christy lives in Katy with her husband, three kids, and their dog and two cats.  When she is not spending time serving her families you can find her at the family farm in Fedor, Buna, Yoakum, or Matagorda beach.

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James W Smith, Jr.

Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer

James started working at Cypress-Fairbanks Funeral Home in 2020.   He was born and raised in Galveston County, and he has been a part of the industry since 2008.  James started as a Crematory Operator, before advancing to dispatcher, overnight embalmer, then finally in 2010 he graduated from Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service here he obtained dual licensure shortly thereafter. 

James lives onsite at Cypress-Fairbanks Funeral Home, with his English Mastiff Leonidas. When he is not at work, you can find him flying planes at West Houston Airport, traveling, working out, riding motorcycles, working on old cars, or playing with Leonidas. 

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Chau Nguyen-Yim

Funeral Director and Embalmer

Chau joined the Cy-Fair family as a funeral director and embalmer in January of 2023 with over 8 years’ experience in the industry. She was born in Vietnam but emigrated to the U.S. at a very young age. Even though she has grown up in Houston most of her life, she is very proud of her heritage and is still bilingual in Vietnamese and English.

Chau graduated from Houston’s own Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service. She is fascinated with learning about different cultures and customs and was drawn to a career where she could help people through one of their most difficult moments.

Chau has been a long time member of the Girl Scouts of America and loves to spend time in the outdoors. She plays the violin and had been a member of the Symphony of North Houston. Some of her favorite hobbies include traveling, fishing, trying new foods, and tending to her garden. 

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Suzanne David

Ambassador

Suzanne Elizabeth "Susan" David was born on November 15, 1944 in Canton, Ohio.

She is a 1962 graduate of Mother McAuley High School in Chicago, Illinois.  Susan also  graduated in 1978 from  Duquesne University  in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a degree in education.

Susan is a memberof St. Maximilian Church, where she is devoted to volunteering her time and energy to the St. Maximilian Kolbe Kids.  She has also served as a Eucharistic Minister, and volunteers for the St. Maximilian Food Pantry.

She has also travelled to Guatemala and various countries for many years on missionary trips to serve the Mayan people.  Other missionary trips have included Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico, and the borders of Texas. 

In her leisure time, you might find Susan eating Mexican food, or petting her beloved cat, Mango.