COSTNER FUNERAL HOME

In 1994 after moving to the present location, Charles W. Costner, Sr. had little idea in 1939 that he was starting a family tradition when he bought a funeral home that served the predominantly black Highland community. Along the way, four generations have helped run it. Now 96, Costner retired about a year ago. But he still drives several times each week to Gastonia from his home in Charlotte to check on the business he traded another career for. "I've got to hound them, you know," Costner joked last week. "But mostly now, I spend my time working in the yard, raising a garden and cutting down trees - lots of trees."... Costner spent his early life as a building contractor. But he had experience building burial caskets. "I grew up in the Chestnut Ridge community near Kings Mountain," he said, "and my father was a building contractor too. I helped him build developments like the old Sadie Mill village in Kings Mountain. But he was an excellent carpenter... "When I was just a..

Primary location: Gastonia United States