MILLERTON — This week Millerton’s oldest enterprise shut its doors after 133 years of business.

"We’re a month away from our 134th year, but 133, that isn’t bad," said Dick Valentine, owner of Valentine Funeral Home and Monument Works. The monument business might remain open. And Valentine is still fielding calls from funeral directors who are potentially interested in purchasing the business.

Richard Lorenzo Valentine opened the Millerton funeral home on March 20, 1875. Dick Valentine’s grandmother and father each ran the business before he took it over in 1960.

"I was running things when my father wasn’t very well, and I got my license shortly after he died," he said, adding that the process was nerve-wracking. "I got the letter [with the results] but I didn’t open it until my birthday. I did very well on my exams and got my license, which I carried around in my pocket for a month."

When asked how it felt to carry on the family tradition, Valentine said it meant a lot.

"I was proud," he said. "It was a service industry as compared to today. It was to serve the people and help them at the worst times of their lives. Now it’s turned around and is pretty much about trying to sell big caskets."

That’s not the case at Valentine, nor has it ever been. The undertaker remembers when he once asked his father how a monument at the Irondale Cemetery was made and delivered. His father said it was done when he was a child, by his father. He remembered stone being shipped via railroad from Vermont to Millerton, where it was then hauled by an ox to the cemetery to be completed. Today Valentine said he hopes his son, Bruce, will continue the monument business.

Initially he thought his daughter, Jean, who lives in Newburgh, N.Y., would take over the funeral home. However, those plans have changed.

More recently, Valentine had a buyer for the business and said, "Everything was fine." In fact, the deal was at the point where he was just finalizing the details and putting in a new septic system.

"It was all on good faith and trust and then one month ago he said it was no deal," Valentine said. "By that time, all of my licenses expired and I just turned 74 and I didn’t want to start over again. I had a friend look into the legalities of it but then his wife got sick. I just can’t continue, there’s no sense any more.

"The hardest part is not the financial thing, it’s what will the people in town do now?" he asked. "Dr. Kristie Schmidt said, ‘Who will I send my folks to?’ and I said, ‘You’ll have to work even harder.’ But the town should have it — there should be a funeral home here."

The closest funeral homes include Peck & Peck in Pine Plains and Copake, Allen Funeral Home in Millbrook, Hufcut Funeral Home in Dover Plains, Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon and Newkirk-Palmer in North Canaan.

One thing Valentine said he’ll miss is that ability to reach out to people who need comfort and support. He spoke about one funeral that stands out in his mind as special.

"There was a man in town who played probably the best country fiddle this side of the Mississippi River," he said. "When he passed away, he worked on a farm. His employer said he never had a necktie and had never been in a church. Well, on Wednesday night they lined up chairs and all these folks came in with guitars and fiddles and played country music. It was awesome. I think God was slapping his knee — I could hear him. It was great."

Millerton Mayor John Scutieri said it’s Valentine himself who is great. He said the funeral home and its director have provided the village with much support and strength when its residents are at their most vulnerable.

"The man has been an absolute icon to everybody — he’s heartwarming," Scutieri said. "When you attend a service, he’s always there with a smile and a handshake. It’s unfortunate we’re losing it as a business, but if anybody thinks about it he’s been doing it for so long. I really hope he has a great retirement because he’s a great person."

Larry House, an owner of the Hufcut Funeral Home with this wife, Katie, seconded that notion.

"I’m sorry to hear that he’s closing," House said. "With all the families he has served over the years, he’s built a trust with those people. It’s a loss to the community and a sad situation."

House, who has been in business in Dover Plains for 23 years, noted that the funeral business is a difficult one.

"It’s mentally exhausting," he said, adding that part of what made Valentine a good funeral director was his ability to help people through a difficult time in their lives.

Valentine’s actions attest to that statement. Because it’s so difficult for families and friends to lose a loved one, Valentine said he doesn’t ask for money up front, something he doubts other funeral homes would even consider.

"I just think when people are suffering they don’t want to take time to go to the bank," he said. "And the good folks far outnumber the not so good."

That kind of thinking is what has earned the kindly undertaker a wide circle of fans among the clients he’s worked with for so many years. In fact, even if the funeral home is eventually replaced with another, those who know Valentine agree there will be no way to replace the man who has run it with such heart for nearly five decades. There’s no doubt that the closure of Valentine Funeral Home will be mourned by many for a long time to come.