LAKE WYLIE -- Even Brian and Lisa Hall don't want you to need their business. But because people do, they'll be there.
"It's not a place that you want to be, but it's a necessity," said Lisa Hall, co-owner of the new M.L. Ford & Sons funeral home in Lake Wylie. "It really is here for the community. It's their building."
Brian Hall, fourth-generation owner of the company that began in 1890 in Clover, broke ground in September on the second M.L Ford location at 4820 Charlotte Hwy. and will officially open Sunday. The Clover location on North Main Street was converted from a home into a funeral home in 1949.
"It's really just convenience for the families," Lisa Hall said of the expansion into Lake Wylie. "It's a new facility, but the business has been here longer than we have."
The new 4,000-square-foot facility includes an open gathering area, family room, chapel and a room for making final arrangements. It even includes a small kitchen for preparing catered meals, serving luncheons or providing refreshments.
"It'll be a place where folks can come and make funeral arrangements, have visitation and have the service with a chapel," Brian Hall said.
The chapel seats 100 and features a piano. The room can be partitioned into two smaller rooms if needed. The Halls also add special touches to their services, such as family pictures in the gathering area, so visitors can feel as comfortable as possible.
"There's no reason to be afraid of a funeral home," Lisa Hall said. "The pain and the suffering is already over once the body arrives here. At this point, the healing process has already started."
Bruce Jones, senior pastor at River Hills Community Church, works regularly with the business and understands firsthand how valuable its services can be. With population increases in Lake Wylie, the expansion onto S.C. 49 should provide convenience for everyone involved, Jones said.
"It just made sense to have them here in Lake Wylie," he said.
The Halls know the process of funerals well. Brian Hall continues the family business that started more than a century ago, and Lisa Hall comes from a family of funeral home operators in North Carolina. The Halls even met when Lisa's brother attended mortuary school with Brian.
That type of experience helps the Halls serve their community, despite the fact that the Halls meet most people under the most difficult circumstances.
"But you hope you can help them," Brian Hall said. "That's the reward."
Because the company has such a long history working with the Lake Wylie and Clover areas, the Halls have connections with local churches, cemeteries, ministers and law enforcement escorts. Especially being on Lake Wylie's main highway, those connections are important, Brian Hall said.
"That's where we'll have to have the police to help, and they're always good to help," he said.
Ed Stewart, funeral director for M.L. Ford, also brings extensive community knowledge. Stewart has been a member of the Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce for 14 years, serving as board member for nine and the past four as chairman. That familiarity with the area, he said, should help in serving the needs of the community.
"It's such a wonderful, caring community, and I hope to be able to give back some of what's been given to me," Stewart said.
The Halls admit, though, that all the community involvement in the world is not going to make people want to be in a funeral home, at least not to use its services. So the staff plans to host an open house from 2 to 4 p.m. May 18, the first official business day, to invite the community to tour the new location.
"They can come in under a happy situation instead of a sad situation," Brian Hall said.
In his 30 years of experience officiating funerals, the staff of M.L. Ford is the "most conscientious" Jones has worked with.
"We're so glad to have them in Lake Wylie," Jones said. "Over the years M.L. Ford has been not just servants of the community, but neighbors and friends as well."
The Halls hope to show at their open house, as well as through their service to the community, that funerals and funeral homes do not have to be scary and unpleasant.
"Funerals are definitely for the living," Lisa Hall said. "They're to honor that person who you loved and you'll miss. It's a way to say goodbye in a wonderful way, in a memorable way."
They also promise to handle an emotional and meaningful time in the life of families with care, compassion and respect.
"They're trusting you with the most precious thing in the world, and that's someone they loved," Lisa Hall said.
M.L. Ford plans to keep five staff members at its Clover location, with another staff member in Lake Wylie. Tentative hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, although appointments may be made by phone 24 hours a day at (803) 831-1909.
FUNERAL HOME/ 9A
