What a week! Lots of driving and unusual responsibilities…almost all of them good.
A week ago today, I attended the funeral for a man that I would consider having been a good friend. The funeral, attended by over 500 people, was a testimony that there were many people touched by this man named Jimmy Evans. I learned many things about a man who I thought I knew well.
As an undertaker, I was reminded of how important our work is and how critical it is to do our work flawlessly. What may be nothing more than a day at the office for us may be an incredibly emotional day for someone else and we need to constantly remind ourselves of this fact.
I don’t get to attend too many funerals that I am not coordinating. When I do, it is extremely hard for me to sit back and be a participant as opposed to being a director. This funeral was no exception.
I knew the director in charge and most of the staff working the funeral from my years working in Columbia. I’m not sure if that made attending easier or more difficult, but catching up with them was a brief, pleasant diversion.
The biggest idea that I came away with is that those attending have different emotional investments in the person who has died and as a seasoned funeral director, it was good “continuing education”. I saw a few things that I would have done differently, but that doesn’t mean I thought they did anything wrong, just different.
I was reminded that no part of the funeral is unimportant and we have to treat each participant as though they are the most important person attending that service Additionally, I will re-iterate with our staff, as we begin to plan and provide each service, how the little details may make the difference between a positive impression and a poor impression. We only have one chance to get it right and excellence is our only option.
I am reminded that “You Don’t Have To Be Sick To Get Better”
A Simple, Village Undertaker 
Like your funeral home is perfect. Talk about the little details..Picking loved ones up in a mini van… JERK!
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Thank you for continuing to be a reader of the blog, even though your ongoing comments would indicate that you wouldn’t identify yourself as a “fan” of mine. I wanted to use your current comment to reiterate the fact that I never stated my funeral home was perfect. Funerals are very personal and it is just about impossible for any funeral home to be perfect in everyone’s eyes as there are just too many variables. I was simply pointing out differences. We use our “mini-van” and Suburban for making initial transfers for three reasons. First, we get many compliments on our vehicles because they are more discreet than a hearse. Second, we often travel into very rural and rugged areas and those vehicles are better equipped than a Cadillac hearse for negotiating that type of terrain. Lastly, OSHA has fairly strict guidelines for these types of vehicles with regards to equipment and maintenance. Our vehicles are retrofitted so that they comply with those regulations. It would be impractical to do that with a hearse. Again, thanks for reading, Sam.
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