Eighty of the oldest businesses in Southern Arizona have been in the same family from the start.
Some of the "newer" ones are still operated by their founder, while others are into their fifth generation.
A few are both deeply and broadly steeped in family ownership. Take, for instance, Adair Funeral Home, started in 1956 by Arthur and Martha Adair.
After Arthur died in 1973, Martha and their oldest son, Ron, who had just become a licensed funeral director, took over.
Martha says she wasn't surprised by Ron's career choice because from the age of 7 he would watch his father do embalmings and the coroner perform autopsies.
She didn't expect it, though, when the other three children - Hank, Carol and Susan - decided to join the business.
Three of her 10 grandchildren now work at Adair as well.
"We're very close. We're talking all of the time," Adair says, adding that her offspring are compassionate and empathetic. Both are necessary, she says, to succeed in a business that can "sometimes be very stressful."
In 1955, when he left the Air Force as a pilot, R.B. "Buck" O'Rielly returned to Tucson and took over the Chevrolet business his father, Frank, had started in 1924. Last fall, Buck turned the title of dealer operator over to his son-in-law, Rob Draper.
O'Rielly said he didn't have a "burning ambition" to run the business, but his dad was tired and said if Buck didn't want to take charge, he'd sell.
As it turned out, Frank kept an office at the dealership until shortly before he died in 1979.
Buck described their management styles as worlds apart, but he said his dad was satisfied that he was growing the business and didn't offer loads of advice.
" 'Your meetings are too damn long,' he would tell me," O'Rielly recalled, chuckling.
He said he also took to heart his father's advice once about a scathing letter. Put it in the drawer overnight and think whether it's really what you want to say, Frank told him. Buck said he learned the value of pausing to consider his initial reactions.
As for sharing wisdom with his successor, O'Rielly said Draper "seeks my counsel on a number of things" and is a "much better listener" than O'Rielly himself.
"He's just a bright guy," O'Rielly said of his son-in-law, who worked in a different part of the business before he moved to the dealership.
Family-owned businesses
The following businesses have been owned by the same family since the start. Date coincides with their opening in Southern Arizona:
• Jacobs Assay Office, 1880
• Bayless and Berkalew, 1884
• Escalada's Inc., 1892
• Garcia Cleaners, 1910
• Carrillo's Tucson Mortuary, 1914
• Holiday Mart, 1918
• Chicago Music Store, 1919
• El Charro Cafe, 1922
• Shamrock Foods Company, 1922
• Ortegas Stores, 1923
• O'Rielly Chevrolet, 1924
• Bracker's, 1924
• Everett J Jones Real Estate, 1928
• Arizona Inn, 1930
• CTI Inc., 1930
• Cele Peterson's, 1931
• Goebel Decorators, 1931
• Hal Empie Studio & Gallery, 1934
• The Shanty, 1937
• Patania's, 1937
• Farmers Investment Co., 1937
• Caruso's, 1938
• Tucson Tallow, 1938
• Crane Machine & Pump Service, 1939
• Harlow Gardens, 1939
• Central Alarm, 1939
• Perri Jewelers, 1945
• Benjamin Supply, 1945
• Willcox Rock & Sand, 1945
• Musselman Honda Center, 1945
• Ramsower's Garage, 1946
• Club 21 Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, 1946
• Fruchthendler & Co., 1946
• Kalil Bottling Co., 1946
• El Parador Tucson, 1946
• McGhee Insurance, 1947
• Garrett Motors, 1947
• Gospel Supplies, 1947
• Casa Molina Del Norte, 1947
• Grant Road Lumber, 1948
• Antech Corp., 1949
• Wilford Construction, 1949
• Lebo's Radiator Service, 1950
• Albert's AutoCare Center, 1950
• House 'n Garden Furniture, 1951
• Bahti Indian Arts, 1952
• Bud's Drapery Den, 1952
• A-1 TV Service, 1952
• Dairy Queen #1, 1952
• Chumbler's Realty, 1952
• Wiese Painting Contractors, 1952
• Sam Levitz Furniture, 1953
• Sun Lighting, 1953
• Thomas Home Furnishings, 1953
• Hirsh's Shoes, 1954
• Rollings Corp., 1954
• Tuller Trophy and Awards, 1955
• Ray Water Company, 1955
• Western Technologies, 1955
• W.C. Cox and Company, moved to Tucson in 1955. Started in Chicago in 1913.
• Jimmy's Broadway Automotive Service, 1956
• Adair Funeral Home, 1956
• Mills-Touche, 1956
• Griswold Realty, 1956
• Kristine L. Gomez dentists, 1957
• Cash Box Jewelry and Pawn, 1957
• Mark & Larry's Auto Service, 1958
• Cactus Bowl, 1959
• Chez Josef Hair Salon, 1959
• Furniture Distributors Inc., 1959
• Jack Furrier Tire & Auto Care, 1960
• Christine's Antiques, 1960
• Quebedeaux Buick GMC, 1961
• Silverman Insurance, 1961
• Carson Concrete Specialists, 1961
• ACE Hardware, Findysz family's stores, 1962
• Miles Label Co., 1962 opened in Tucson. Established in 1912 in Iowa.
• Hank Brandt Associates, 1962 opened in Tucson. Established in New York in 1958.
