Halloween has come and passed, but the recognition of death and passing isn’t over with quite yet. In fact, it’s never truly over, always alive in funeral homes. There are a lot of creepy, unrecognized occupations in the death industry.
Office Manager
An office manager in the funeral business is not the typical paper-pushing job. When she has to fill in for employees, she does not just send a memo but is hands on with death itself. She says that it takes a certain type of character to be able to work in the funeral business. Shannon Thomas is the office manager at Aria Cremation Services and Funeral Home in Dallas.
“Most of us are a little eccentric or odd at times but only because the standard individual does not understand how we can do what we do,” Thomas said.
Thomas said that part of her job is managing all the day to day operations in the funeral home that are needed to help the funeral home run.
“My day begins by preparing for families to come in for the final arrangements of their loved ones; I create all death certificates and process all permits necessary for cremation and burial; I do all the financials of the funeral home along with preparing for funeral and memorial services,” Thomas said.
Thomas said that watching all the pain and suffering families have to go through is a challenge, but it also gives her a new appreciation for life and how quickly it can be taken away.
“I love working with the families and helping them through one of the toughest moments in their lives,” Thomas said. “I know what my calling is and that is to help families in need of love.”
Funeral Director
Samantha Watt is a funeral director at Aria Cremation Services and Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas. A funeral director arranges and provides services for the people who have experienced the loss of a loved one.
Watt said that she’s wanted to be in the funeral home business since high school.
“I fell in love with my anatomy and physiology class and felt destined to become an embalmer,” Watt said. “I went to Funeral College straight out of high school and quickly found a job at a major Dallas funeral home. This experience changed my path to becoming an embalmer because I realized how much I love administration and interacting with the living instead.”
Watt said that she’s always been interested in stories of the deceased, and her entire career makes her appreciate life more.
“It is fascinating to hear some of these stories from the 1920s and 1930s. It’s so humbling to be reminded that life can be taken,” Watt said.
CEO and President/Mortician
John Brooks is the CEO and president of John P. Brooks Low Cost Funerals and Cremation in Dallas. He is also a Mortician and has been for 38 years.
Brooks said that he mainly oversees management of each location and the daily operations, which consist of funerals, memorial services and overseeing the funeral directors.
“My favorite part of this business is satisfying the families we serve and helping them in a very difficult time. I find what I do to be very fulfilling and extremely rewarding,” Brooks said.
Brooks has wanted to be a part of the funeral home business since he was 15, and his motivation to succeed has kept him going.
“Working in a funeral home was my first summer job,” Brooks said. “I was inspired by a friend already in the business. I had to have a degree in Mortuary Science along with a two year apprenticeship.”
Brooks said that there are a lot of common misconceptions and stereotypes in his line of work, and while he says some are completely wrong, others are plausible.
“A misconception would be that funeral directors are a lot like salesmen,” Brooks said. “We care first and foremost for the families we serve in the time of loss. However I believe to some degree we are somewhat strange and eccentric at times.”
