09/08/2025
Three Generations Strong, Going on Four. The H &J Family-Owned Legacy Continues
Maintaining generations of a family business is difficult to do and requires careful planning and a lot of nurturing! Especially a business as important and sensitive as a Funeral Home. In the case of Hallowell & James, 2 Funeral Homes, the first in the Countryside/LaGrange area. The second in the Downers Grove/Woodridge area. Both built on identical footprints to facilitate the needs of families who have chosen H & J for generations.
The stewards of this generation Bill, Tom, Dottie and Aileen provide separate roles in the operation of the funeral homes, along with a tenured staff who truly become part of the Hallowell & James Family. Rich James of the second generation provided tremendous growth and expansion while his children were growing up. His children were often doing tasks in the funeral home, from washing vehicles, to touching up paint, to gardening outside and vacuuming inside. There were plenty of jobs and lessons on responsible stewardship to go around! The James children also had a responsibility to be good citizens in the community. They chuckle a bit remembering the "details" they were imbued with by their father.
A fourth generation is now in place with Tom and Bill's nephew Eric (Aileen's son), a licensed Funeral Director with over 5 years of experience behind him. Eric went to Mortuary school, became a student intern and then an Apprentice at H&J. The tenured staff with a combined hundreds of years of experience, and aunts and uncles with high expectations provide thorough training to become an exceptional Funeral Director to carry on the family legacy. It's all about service to the generations of families we've served, from the generations of our family who continue to serve. That's what our father Rich instilled in us, and we continue to instill in every person in the H&J Family.
Visit Us at: https://www.hjfunerals.com
