Working in Funeral Homes: Why Do People Do It?
Working in Funeral Homes: Why Do People Do It?
With only two years of schooling, an individual can become a funeral director with an associate degree in funeral service education. Then an apprenticeship can be done during schooling or during a period of time after graduation. The apprenticeship usually can take from one to three years to complete. Then it’s just a matter of passing the state board examination to officially become a funeral director. They can make upwards of $50,000 a year with apprenticeships and internships starting at $20 an hour. The main job of the funeral director is to direct the entire funeral. Think of them as event planners. Funeral directors set up times to meet with the families, go over details, arrange cars, set up flowers, plan the music, casket details, and keep a schedule of the funeral ceremony. They can also prepare the body for the family in the way that they desire. Funeral directors offer the families a shoulder to cry on and the much needed guidance that families usually need after their loved ones have passed. Funeral directors can aid in writing obituaries and guide families in adding small details to better honor their loved ones. They can also offer options between burials or cremations and give families a little more insight to either of the methods. Funeral directors are very knowledgeable people who are here to help grieving families.
A lot of funeral directors and morticians want to work in the industry because they want to be the person that does the last favor for the deceased. Essentially, they want to help people, just like that of a doctor or nurse. Dealing with the body is such a small part of their job. Of course it is an important part because the prepared body is often the last image friends and families have of their loved one. However, most of their time is spent doing paperwork and making phone calls and meeting with the families. It is very heavily focused on emotional labor. People in the industry agree that most of the work is sad but it is very rewarding to be able to perform the last service for the deceased and the families. Often the morticians and funeral directors have a relationship with God, or are spiritual in some type of way, or at least have some belief in the afterlife. Some morticians do not believe in the afterlife but most other morticians think it would be very difficult to do the work without believing in the afterlife. They find it comforting knowing that a person’s soul lives on in the afterlife and it helps them to do their job. Just like the work of a doctor or nurse, people die and there has to be someone to take care of that person’s mortal body. Not everyone wants to do it, it definitely takes a special type of person. To those people who wake up in the middle of the night to phone calls asking them to pick up another body, we should all be forever grateful.These people perform a service for grieving families that can be matched by no other industry.
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May & Son funeral home has helped families and loved ones through the grieving process for more than a century. We have locations in Columbia, Boonville, Sedalia and serve the Fayette Missouri area. To find out about how to plan ahead, contact us today.
