JAMES RICHARD PRESTON
James Richard Preston
1928-2003
James Richard Preston began his successful career as a funeral
director in 1948, when he was first employed by the venerable John
A. Jones at the Jones Funeral Home on Main Street in Paintsville,
Ky. It was clear that Jim's personality and sensitivity to the deep
personal losses of others made him ideally suited to the funeral
business. His innate business acumen combined with his warm
personality and community spirit established the foundation for his
career as a builder and developer, as well.
Jim Preston was born Nov. 27, 1928, a son of J. Milo and Sally
Auxier Preston.
He died Aug. 29, 2003, at the age of 74.
On Sept. 10, 1955, he married Marda Joan Kirk, daughter of Peggy and
Andrew Kirk.
Jim and Marda had two children, Peggy Ann Preston Hager of Ocala,
Fla., and James Andrew Preston of Paintsville. In addition to his
wife and children, Jim is survived by six grandchildren, Casey
Allison and Daniel Preston Hager and Shanna Rhea, Whitney Michelle,
Callie Renee and Andrew Kirk Preston. Also surviving are a brother,
William Donald Preston of Hager Hill, Ky.; and two sisters, M. Ann
Preston Grooms of Cincinnati and Mary Elizabeth Preston Fraim of
Hager Hill. He was a member of the First Christian Church of
Paintsville and the East Point Masonic Lodge. Jim graduated from Van
Lear High School in 1946 and briefly worked in logging and
construction before being drawn to the funeral business with Mr.
Jones. He entered embalming school in Louisville, Ky., in 1950, and
became a licensed funeral director and embalmer in June 1951. In
June 2001, Jim Preston was recognized by the Kentucky Funeral
Directors Association for his dedicated service with a 50- year pin.
On July 3, 1951, Jim entered the United States Army. He served in
Korea for 18 months before returning home to Paintsville, where he
resumed his career in the funeral business. He remained in the U.S.
Army Reserve until he was granted an honorable discharge in 1959. In
1954, Jim Preston became a partner in what became known as the
Jones-Preston Funeral Home. The business moved to the corner of
Second and Church streets in 1956, just in time for the Great Flood
of 1957, less than a year later. In 1972, after suffering through a
number of other floods, the growing business moved into its present
home, a building designed to serve the needs of families in Johnson
County. This was the first building in the Big Sandy designed and
built specifically as a funeral home. In the meantime, Jim Preston
had not neglected his community or his bent toward entrepreneurial
business endeavors. In 1959, he opened Highland Memorial Park in
Staffordsville, Ky. He would later develop Mendota Village and
Oaklawn Estates in Hager Hill, and in the course of the latter, he
provided land for Porter Elementary School. Other development
projects included Woodland Place and a portion of Powell Addition.
Jim served as Johnson County coroner for two terms from 1962 to 1970
and on various boards and commissions of the city and county. In
1973, he honored his fellow veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars
by donating and erecting a monument to their memory on the grounds
of the Johnson County Courthouse. In 1984, as a part of the
Paintsville Sesquicentennial Celebration, Jim donated a bronze
plaque to memorialize a time capsule and Sesquincentennial Tree
placed on the courthouse lawn by the Paintsville Garden Club. He
also donated the stately bronze plaque that marks another Garden
Club beautification project - the one located at the corner of Main
and College streets at the entrance to the city parking lot. Jim
Preston had a significant role in the life of Paintsville and
Johnson County for more than 50 years. In 1984, however, his health
forced him into retirement. Actually, it was more semi- retirement,
for Jim Preston remained active in the business of Jones-Preston
Funeral Home, a business which he had built into one of the most
successful funeral homes in eastern Kentucky, even as he turned the
daily operation over to his son, James Andrew. Just a couple of
weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit Jim for more than an hour
here at the funeral home. As we sat at the opening to the garage
next door, one of his favorite resting places, we shared stories of
our ailments – diabetes, hypertension, heart surgery, tremors - and
the problems of aging, as old men are wont to do. We also shared
recollections of the past in Paintsville and Johnson County. As Jim
discussed people, places and events that had been important in his
life, he reinforced what I had always known, that he had a deep and
abiding love for the people of our native county ... people he had
served faithfully and well throughout his life. Today, Jim Preston
and his family should be pleased to know that his legacy will
continue to serve them for many years to come.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. today at the Jones-
Preston Funeral Home Chapel.
Entombment will follow in Highland Memorial Park in Staffordsville,
Ky. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Christian
Church in Paintsville.
Monday
Sep.01 2003