Richard Frizzell, a Blacksburg man who co-founded one of the largest nursing home chains in Virginia, has died. He was 78.

His son, Rick, said his father fell three weeks ago during a vacation in Myrtle Beach, S.C. He died Thursday at a Roanoke hospital.

"He was a great man who's going to be missed by a lot of people," his son said.

Frizzell, a native of Baltimore, got his start in the construction business. An affiliation with business partners drew him to Montgomery County, where the team chose to a put a nursing home on a lot adjacent to Montgomery Regional Hospital near Blacksburg.

The nursing center opened as Heritage Hall in 1975, with Frizzell as administrator.

With Frizzell active as an expansion strategist, the company went on to establish 18 Heritage Hall nursing homes across Virginia. Seventeen, including the one in Montgomery County, are open today.

The company, American Healthcare LLC, is the state's second-largest nursing home chain with about 2,000 beds, according to Ted LeNeave, chief executive officer. It employs 2,400 people.

The other founders were William Cranwell, Robert Cranwell, Dick Cranwell, Joan Munford and Tom Hardy, according to LeNeave.

In recent years, Frizzell had left day-to-day operation of American Healthcare and was focused on assisted living. He was a part owner with his son of Northfork Management, with six assisted living facilities in Virginia and North Carolina.

During his career, Frizzell served on the Virginia Board of Nursing Home Administrators, rising to chairman.

He was the former president of the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce and sat on the advisory board of the First National Bank, now StellarOne.