Memorial service helps families during holiday

PROCTORVILLE— Losing a loved one is tough, and coming into the holiday season makes all the sadness come back that much stronger.

To that end, the Hall Funeral Home will have its annual holiday memorial program at 6 p.m. Friday. This is the 18th year for the event.

“The reward of this is that we have people after the ceremony tell us that while they may not have looked forward to attending, they are glad they did,” said Ernie Hall, who co-owns the funeral home with his family. “There will be some tears, there will be some laughter. All in all, they say it certainly helps them. That’s why we do it.”

Hall said they send out about 400 invitations to the families of those who have had services at the funeral home over the past year to the memorial program.

“But we don’t exclude anyone from years past or if another funeral home serviced the family,” he said. “We’ve had as many as 300 here before. The holidays are the most difficult for those who have lost someone. So this is just a little way to make a difference.”

As part of the event, the names of those who’ve passed on are read and a family member puts an unbreakable ornament representing them on the Christmas tree, called a Tree of Life.

“At the conclusion of the ceremony, we light up the tree,” Hall said.

This year’s speaker will be pastor Brady Lipscomb of the Eastwood Baptist Church in Huntington, West Virginia.

“He does some counseling. He will give a presentation on helping families cope during the holidays,” Hall said. “It’s fairly brief. The reading of the name takes about an hour or so.”

There will also be songs, and after the ceremony, there will be a reception.

Hall said that his father, Earnest B. Hall Jr. started the ceremony after the funeral home moved into its current location in 1999.

“He wanted to do something for the families, especially at the holidays,” Hall said. The senior Hall passed away in February 2013. “He always told us he would like to have us continue this event.”

Hall Funeral Home is located at 625 County Road 775 in Proctorville.