Staff
Our staff is committed to providing support, compassion, information, and direction as needed to all members of our community, their families, and friends who are dealing with loss and grief.
Beth A. Wallace McNearney
Owner
Ohio Licensed Funeral Director, Embalmer & Certified Aftercare Specialist
Beth Wallace McNearney has worked in the funeral business for 21 years. She has been a Huntington, WV resident since birth and graduated from Spring Valley High School in 2000. She enrolled at Marshall University and earned a B.A. in Business Management in 2004. Beth decided to pursue the funeral industry after her brother; Jason Owen Wallace was killed in the 1996 Scottown, Ohio fireworks explosion. Upon moving to Cincinnati, she graduated from Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science and earned her degree in 2005. While serving her apprenticeship, she worked at Schneider-Griffin Funeral Home from October 2005 - February 2007. She then moved to Florida and worked for Edgley Cremation Services and Crime Site Restoration. After returning to Huntington in 2009 she once again worked for Schneider-Griffin Funeral Home as a Funeral Director/Embalmer until June 2010. We decided there was a need for a funeral home in South Point, OH and opened Wallace Family Funeral Home January 11, 2011.
Beth is involved in the following organizations:
- Alpha Chi Omega Alum
- Marshall University Alum
- Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science Alum
- Hospice of Huntington Patient Volunteer
- Member of Ohio Funeral Directors Association
- Member of National Funeral Directors Association
- Member of the Greater Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce
- Member of Lawrence County Young Professionals
Beth was introduced to Jonas in 2009 and married at Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, in 2010. They welcomed their first daughter, Emily Dawn, on April 23, 2011. A week shy of two years, they welcomed their second daughter, Claire Anne, on April 16, 2013. Two little girls weren't enough for the McNearney family, so God blessed them with a little baby boy, Owen Wallace, on October 3, 2014. Beth loves spending time with her family and friends, attending Tri-State Worship Center in South Point, OH, crafting, traveling, being involved with the community, and loving animals.
Family:
Husband: Jonas McNearney (Engineering Manager at Rubberlite, Inc.)
Children: Emily Dawn McNearney, Claire Anne McNearney & Owen Wallace McNearney
Parents: Johnnie Owen and Willa Wallace (both retired teachers from Wayne County Board of Education)
Sister: Amie Dawn Wallace Crockett (Funeral Director)
Brother-in-law: Tyler Crockett (Project Manager, CAMC)
Nephew & Niece: Jase Roland Crockett & Ellie Mae Crockett
Brother: Jason Owen Wallace (1986-1996)
Fur Babies: Lola, Beau and Ziggy
Amie Wallace Crockett
Ohio Licensed Funeral Director
Amie Dawn Wallace Crockett is a licensed Funeral Director at Wallace Family Funeral Home. She has worked for Wallace Family since the opening in January 2011. Amie is the sister of owner Beth Wallace McNearney. Amie has been a Huntington, WV resident since birth and graduated from Spring Valley High School in 2002. She enrolled at Marshall University and earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice in 2007. Amie left her full-time position for the KY Department of Corrections-Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. She was a Probation and Parole Officer and worked there since May 2015. After graduating from Marshall University, Amie obtained employment as a Primary Counselor at Transitions, Inc. Halfway House in Ashland, KY. She worked there from January 2008 until November 2011. She then worked full-time for the Division of Juvenile Services in WV as a Corrections Case Manager for the Cabell County Youth Reporting Center and was employed there from November 2011 until May 2015.
Amie met her husband, Tyler Crockett, during her freshman year at Spring Valley High School. They dated off and on for 15 years. They married in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, in August 2013. They reside in Huntington, WV, with their children, Jase Roland and Ellie Mae, and dog, Maggie.
Tyler Crockett has been a Huntington, WV resident since birth and graduated from Spring Valley High School in 1999. He enrolled in Marshall University, earned a B.A. in Sports Management and Marketing in 2005, and earned an M.S. in Sports Administration in 2010. Tyler works at CAMC. Tyler also helps out at the funeral home when needed.
Amie loves spending time with her family and friends, traveling, cooking, crafting, and shopping. She also has a love for animals.
Family:
Husband: Tyler Crockett (Project Manager, CAMC.)
Children: Jase Roland Crockett & Ellie Mae Crockett
Parents: Johnnie Owen and Willa Wallace (both retired teachers from Wayne County Board of Education)
Sister: Beth Anne Wallace McNearney (Owner of Wallace Family Funeral Home)
Brother-in-law: Jonas McNearney (Engineering Manager at Rubberlite, Inc.)
Nieces and Nephew: Emily Dawn McNearney, Claire Anne McNearney and Owen Wallace McNearney
Brother: Jason Owen Wallace (1986-1996)
Johnnie Wallace
Funeral Attendant
Johnnie Wallace has been a resident of Wayne County, WV since birth. He graduated from Wayne High School in 1967 and West Virginia State University in 1972, where he was a starting linebacker for the football team. He received his master's degree from Marshall University in 1976 and taught Building Construction for the Wayne County School system for 32 years. While working for the school system he was an assistant coach for Wayne High School Football Team and Head Coach for the Wrestling Team. Upon retirement, he has continued to be a WV licensed contractor where he specializes in residential building construction. Johnnie received the distinguished honor of being voted BEST in the Tri-State for the past several years in a row for Wayne County's Custom Builder and General Contractor. Johnnie and Willa help as needed at the funeral home.
Member of Wayne County Teachers golf league (Silo Golf Course- Lavalette, WV)
Family:
Wife: Willa D. Webb Wallace (retired Wayne County teacher for 33 years and wife of 54 years.)
Children: Beth (Jonas) Wallace McNearney , Amie (Tyler) Wallace Crockett and Jason Owen Wallace (1986-1996)
Grandchildren: Emily Dawn McNearney, Claire Anne McNearney, Owen Wallace McNearney, Jase Roland Crockett and Ellie Mae Crockett
Bill Clark
Funeral Attendant
Bill Clark has been a resident of Lawrence County Ohio since birth and is a graduate of Symmes Valley High School. After graduation from high school, he joined the United States Army and was on active duty for 2 years with 13 months of that time in Korea. He remained on non-active duty for 4 years and was honorably discharged in 1971. He worked for Nabisco and retired there after 34 years. After Bill retired he worked as a part-time attendant at Schneider-Griffin Funeral Home for 3 years. He has been a big help and tremendous asset during the renovation and building of Wallace Family Funeral Home.
Attends Sunshine Freewill Baptist Church
Family:
Wife: Karen Keeney Clark (Chesapeake Middle School Secretary)
Children: Ronnie Clark (1969-1998) and Dustin Clark (1988-2023) Daughter-in-law, Libby Clark
Larry Thompson
Funeral Attendant
Larry and Loretta Thompson are current residents of Chesapeake, Ohio; both are South Point High School graduates. Larry retired after 47 years of employment with Coyne Textile Services out of New York. They have four children and eight grandchildren. They both attend England Hill Freewill Baptist Church in Catlettsburg, Kentucky, where Larry serves as a Deacon.
Allen Wagner
Insurance Specialist & Funeral Attendant
Allen Wagner has been in the Insurance business for 22 years. He retired from Transamerica in 2018, but still maintains his Insurance license, to help Families when they are wanting to plan for their future. He was involved in NAIFA WV Huntington, serving as President for 3 years and also as the State President for 1 year.
Vickie Wagner
Administrative Coordinator & Funeral Attendant
Children & families:
Joshua, Laura, Jonas & Keegan Wagner
Holly, Ryan & Izayah Schneider
Demetria, Dain, Destyn & Darryn Russell
Kristin Worley
Bereavement Counselor & Grief and Loss Specialist
Kristin Worley grew up in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and currently resides with her daughter in South Point, Ohio. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Counseling and Rehabilitation from Marshall University in 2005 and her Master of Arts Degree in Counseling with an emphasis on School Counseling in 2008. She works for South Point Local Schools, where she is a licensed High School Counselor. She has served in this role since 2012 and loves connecting, supporting, and encouraging our future leaders of tomorrow in Lawrence County.
As a student at Marshall University, she completed a practicum at Hospice of Huntington. During her time at Hospice, Kristin volunteered as a "Big Buddy" at Camp Good Grief, a camp designed for youth who have suffered the loss of a family member or loved one. This experience sparked an interest for Kristin in Bereavement Counseling.
After suffering the loss of her beloved mother-in-law in 2012 and her precious father in 2016, she has desired to help others in their journey through grief. Kristin has furthered her education and is licensed from the American School Counselor Association as a Grief and Loss Specialist and other specialized Bereavement Counseling services.
Jessica Hensley
Yoga Instructor
Jessica Hensley grew up in Weirton, West Virginia. She attended and graduated from Weirton Madonna High School in 2002. Jessica attended West Liberty University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Education. After graduating in 2006, she moved to Huntington, West Virginia, where she began teaching first grade and kindergarten at St. Joseph Grade School. 2012 Jessica received her Masters degree in Early Childhood Education from Marshall University. She is the 4 1/2-year-old lead teacher at Enslow Park Presbyterian Preschool in Huntington, WV.
While at West Liberty University, she met her husband Matthew. They were married in 2007 and reside in Huntington. Matthew is a Registered Nurse Practitioner and is employed by King’s Daughters Medical Center. They are blessed with three beautiful baby boys, named Miles and Benjamin and Kelson and they cannot imagine their life without them.
Jessica began her yoga journey in college, practicing off and on until 2013 when she decided that she was going to make yoga a part of her lifestyle. She began practicing at Brown Dog Yoga Studio, in Huntington and graduated as a RYT-200 from the studio's first Yoga Teacher Training Program. Jessica loves yoga because it allows her to feel comfortable and strong in her own body. Yoga also has taught her many lessons about herself on the mat, that she has been able to carry off the mat, making her a better person in all aspects of her life. She is so blessed to be teaching her students at the Funeral Home.
Jessica is also teaching yoga as a volunteer at Her Place Recovery Center and working on bringing yoga to Veterans at the VA Medical Center. Lend-A-Hand for Appalachia is a non-profit that Jessica started with her friends, taking high school students to southern Appalachia to do home repair for those in need. She currently sits on the Board of Directors and the organization is very near and dear to her.
Lola
Therapy Dog In Training
Although it can be an extremely somber occasion, a gentle Therapy Dog can be an asset during this time. They bring unconditional love and help to lighten a mournful atmosphere while bringing peace to individuals during an upsetting time.
Therapy dogs have an amazing ability to put people at ease in a very emotional and difficult situation. The love that an animal can give is very comforting. Interacting with and petting therapy dogs can reduce the stress hormone, cortisol, lower blood pressure, banish negative thoughts and ramp up the feel-good hormone, oxytocin.
The use of grief therapy dogs in funeral homes is just an extension of the services therapy dogs offer. We are here for the community and want to be able to provide some comfort anyway we possibly can. We thought adding a therapy dog to the staff would help comfort people at the saddest most difficult time in their life. Lola is 7 years old and has been going through basic obedience training with Tim Childers at Petiquette in Barboursville, WV. She will eventually become a certified therapy dog with Therapy Dogs International. Sometimes all it takes is kiss from a wet nose to help people share their feelings and begin the healing process.