Legacy Funeral Home

In the 1950s, this small family-owned funeral home began out of necessity, catering to African American communities across multiple counties in rural Virginia. The wife earned her PhD and worked as a teacher for more than 30 years before retiring and becoming a licensed funeral director. The husband was a WW2 veteran and worked as a licensed funeral director for more than 40 years in the small community becoming the first African American member of the town council.

After the couple retired, the funeral home was taken over by their nephew, who followed in his uncle’s footsteps and became a licensed funeral director. He previously worked as a manager at another nearby funeral home before taking over his uncle’s business. He renamed the funeral home to reflect its new ownership but kept many of the previous staff. Mr. James, a retired tractor-trailer driver, worked at the funeral home for decades driving the hearse. He was worried about losing his job when his nephew took over. However, that worry was quickly put to rest when the nephew jokingly told him that he had come to the funeral home. For the next several years, business continued as usual. The young funeral director took pride in his work, and much like his uncle, became well-established in the small community.

One day in December 1999, everything changed. Mr. James, who was in his 90s at the time, was driving a van from the funeral home to pick up funeral programs in a neighboring town when a traffic accident occurred. State Police said a car failed to yield and crossed in front of Mr. James’s van. He died the following day at the hospital. Mr. James could have retired years ago, but he loved the funeral business, which was his hobby. On his off days, he came into the office and worked around the facility or simply placed the daily newspaper on the desk. He was regarded for keeping the funeral home’s white Cadillac hearse sparkling clean. It reached the point where no one would even take it out of the garage without first asking Mr. James. During his tenure with the funeral home, he only missed two funerals and drove roughly 700 people to their final resting places. Now it was his turn. In honor of their longtime friend and coworker, a horse and carriage carried Mr. James to his graveside from the funeral home. The original owner and his wife both lived to be in their 90s at the time of their deaths. Sadly, their nephew was diagnosed with cancer and died the same year as his uncle. One of the last services at the funeral home was held for the nephew.

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