The way Ernie Hall Jr. lived his life is what made citizens want to work with him when dealing with the pain and grief of death.

Hall Jr., who guided Hall Funeral Home in Proctorville for more than 40 years, died Sunday at the age of 64.

Friends, family and much of the community will miss a man who understood being successful in business was tied to treating people the right way and linking the job intrinsically with family.

That is one of the reasons why the business has weathered an up and down economy and remained a strong community leader.

Family-owned businesses are what our nation was founded upon and will be a key driving force when our country comes out of this downward spiral. Big corporations come and go, often driven solely by stockholders and the bottom line.

Hall Funeral Home — much like Phillips Funeral Home, O’Keefe-Baker Funeral Home, Unger’s Shoes, Bob Clyse, McSweeney’s and countless other businesses here in Lawrence County — continue to thrive because the family-operated model is sound.

Businesses built by — and even around — families are the ones that are invested in our communities and understand that profit isn’t always measured in dollars and cents.

Hall Jr. will be missed but the business will continue to serve the community because the family doesn’t know any other way.