Hall Funeral Homes celebrating 60 years

Free celebration event in Waldoboro Aug. 18
Thu, 07/26/2018 - 2:15pm

It has been and continues to be our great privilege to serve the families of Midcoast Maine.

We want to thank you for your support of our family and recognize the legacy of care that our staff has made possible.

Dick and Cynthia Hall purchased the former Flanders Funeral Home on Main Street, Waldoboro and opened the Hall Funeral Home for business on July 15, 1958. Dick and Cynthia Hall and their five children, Carol, Nancy, Ricky, Becky and Mike, lived in the funeral home until 1974. The Hall family also ran the Waldoboro Ambulance Service from 1958 until 1969. The Hall children grew up in the home helping their parents by washing cars, vacuuming, cleaning, arranging furniture, and answering phones 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, always by the third ring or less.

“It seemed like Mom and Dad were always working,” said Mike Hall, who now owns the funeral home. “I remember how Dad read obituaries over the phone to various newspaper copywriters. Until the fax machine came around, our family spent many nights over dinner listening to Dad reading the obituaries.

“Dad was always willing to listen, and kept abreast of the changing times in order to better serve the community.”

Supporting the community has always been important to the Hall family. The Halls have served the community in many forms whether it was supporting the Little League, volunteering for various town organizations, working with Medomak Valley High School teachers to support in the 1980s the “Life and Death” classes, or providing a free Barbeque for veterans and their families on Memorial Day.

The Hall family is well respected for their care of families during a difficult time. The Hall family has experienced their own grief through the untimely deaths of Ricky (Dick and Cynthia’s son) at age 19, and Cynthia at the age of 52. These personal family experiences have helped the Halls understand the importance of grieving together as a family and with the community. The value of the funeral, memorial, or celebration of life is to acknowledge and recognize the passing of a loved one, and to share that loss with our community to gain momentum on a path of healing and re-integrating into life again in a positive way. The Hall family shares this important information to all of the families they are privileged to serve.

The family continued to grow their family business by providing professional, compassionate service, and care with good taste to the families in Lincoln and Knox counties. The Hall family purchased the Bond Funeral Home in Jefferson in 1962, and Waltz Funeral Home in Waldoboro in 1965. Richard Hall centralized these two businesses into his Waldoboro location. In 1991, Richard Hall and his son, Michael Hall, purchased the Simmons & Harrington Funeral Home in Boothbay Harbor. In 1992 Michael Hall purchased the Hall Funeral Home in Waldoboro and Simmons & Harrington Funeral Home in Boothbay Harbor from his father, Dick Hall.

Dick continued to work with his son, and in 1996, Carol Hall Perry (Dick’s daughter) joined the firm as a funeral director. Dick was proud to realize his dream of having his family continue the family legacy at Hall Funeral Home. Mike and Carol worked together with Dick providing “quality control” until he retired.

In 1998, Michael Hall built a new funeral home for Simmons & Harrington Funeral Home in Boothbay, moving the funeral home from Boothbay Harbor to Boothbay. The new location provided more space for services, a brand new showroom with central air conditioning and more parking. The Boothbay funeral home is 20 years old this year.

In 2004, Michael Hall purchased the Davis Funeral Home in Thomaston. The Hall family history in Thomaston goes back to Dick’s grandparents, Allyn Hall and Estella French Hall, who lived and worked in Thomaston, and are buried in the Village Cemetery in Thomaston. Davis Funeral Home was renamed Hall Funeral Home and relocated from Knox Street to Main Street in Thomaston. The Halls re-branded their three locations with the Hall Funeral Home name and an identical logo.

The Hall family would like to personally thank all of our many friends in Lincoln and Knox counties, our family, past and present employees, clergy, musicians and especially the families in Lincoln and Knox counties who have given us the privilege to serve their family with professional and compassionate care during one of life’s most difficult times, the loss of a loved one.

The Hall family is committed to continue their well-respected service over the coming years, keeping abreast of the changing times, and to continue serving the communities of Lincoln and Knox Counties with professional, compassionate care.

To celebrate Hall’s 60th anniversary, Hall’s will host a free family-style cookout at Hall Funeral Home in Waldoboro on Saturday, Aug. 18 from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be great food, live music, and a bouncy house for the kids. For more information, call 832-5541.