Don Dimond, standing, with Joseph Martin, recently marked the transfer of ownership of  Dimond & Sons, Inc., who have operated Nichols Funeral Homes for almost twenty years, to  Mr. Martin, a Haleyville native.  Joseph, a 2008 graduate of Haleyville High School, attended and graduated from Jefferson State Community College’s Mortuary Science program in 2013, and obtained all of the licenses necessary to practice as a Funeral Director and Embalmer in Alabama.

The sale included The Tombstone Company and Hillcrest Crematory which is the only crematory actually located in and serving the families of Winston County. Although Joseph started his career with Nichols he has had the opportunity to work for and learn from several well-known funeral homes over the last ten years.  Dimond spoke of this as a continuation of the history of local ownership of Nichols going back to 1938 and said, “Winston County is fortunate to have a local person trained and ready to take over to continue this family business when many funeral homes end up-sold to large uncaring corporations.  Joseph brings youth, vitality and a commitment to deliver exactly what individual families want.  At Nichols, the difference IS the service.”Joseph is married to the former Jordan Smith of Hackleburg. They have a daughter Elizabeth, known as “Ellie” and reside in Haleyville.

 Don and the rest of the longtime staff, including Gary Wakefield, will be staying on to assist in the operation. Nichols’s posting of death notices from all three funeral homes can be found here on hbtv.us. Just click on Funerals. From there, you can visit the Nichols web site which has complete obits and information.