The Business of Death

          We all know that death is an unfortunate, but natural part of life. I think most of us agree that we would rather not think about it. I can remember avoiding the subject of death like the plague. That was, of course, before I found myself working in the funeral business. People often overlook the fact that death, along with all the negative associations, is also a business. Generations of families and people just like me and you have and will continue to make a living in the funeral profession. I am always baffled at the way people prefer not to talk about death, but have so many questions about working in the funeral business. Just tell somebody on a plane that you are a funeral director.

          What does a funeral director do? Well, a funeral director's job duties have changed through the years. In earlier days, the term mortician was used, or undertaker, but both would be considered antiquated words today. The same holds true for funeral parlor or mortuary. Those terms have been replaced with funeral home. There was a time when funeral homes were family owned and operated and passed down through generations. This too has become quite a thing of the past. There are a number of folks still eager to start their own funeral home, the majority without any family heritage in the funeral profession. Big corporations have moved in, methodically pushing the generational funeral home operations aside or taking them over. Another changing trend is the faces entering the field. Once considered a male dominated field, the number of females entering the profession and female funeral directors has risen dramatically in recent years.

          Funeral Directors perform a variety of functions to arrange and conduct funeral services, such as coordinating transportation of deceased to the funeral home for embalming, holding conferences with surviving family members or other authorized person to arrange details, scheduling ministers for religious rites, and providing transportation for survivors. It is important that funeral directors become familiar with locations of churches and procedures, all aspects of different faiths and cultures, locations and procedures for cemeteries, clergy and handling crowds. In independent or small firms, the funeral director may personally handle all details from the initial call from the family, all the way through to the interment or cremation. However, in most corporate firms, especially in large, metropolitan areas, centralized “care centers” have been created. These are locations where embalmers handle the job of transporting the deceased from the place of death and either embalm or hold for cremation. Generally, these care centers also house company vehicles, such as hearses and limousines. This allows them to be dispatched and scheduled for the funeral homes that are having services.

          So, what about the pay? Like most careers, it varies based on location, time and experience, among other things. In most states, both funeral directors and embalmers are required to be licensed. Many corporate funeral homes have eliminated positions and lowered salaries. In 2009, a corporation based in Houston, Texas eliminated a high number of positions, removing managers and reducing funeral directors in some instances, to one funeral director per funeral home. Most states require attending an accredited Mortuary Science college. Some states require a Bachelors degree, others an Associate of Applied Science. There are a number of mortuary schools throughout the country dedicated to funeral service education. For more information on embalming, I wrote another article, The Embalming Process Explained. You may also learn more about a funeral director in A Funeral Director's First Case.

 Author James H. Patton has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer for more than ten years.

Copyright 2009