Download or read book Confessions of a Funeral Director written by Caleb Wilde and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-09-26 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The blogger behind Confessions of a Funeral Director—what Time magazine called a "must read"—reflects on mortality and the powerful lessons death holds for every one of us in this compassionate and thoughtful spiritual memoir that combines the humor and insight of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes with the poignancy and brevity of When Breath Becomes Air. We are a people who deeply fear death. While humans are biologically wired to evade death for as long as possible, we have become too adept at hiding from it, vilifying it, and—when it can be avoided no longer—letting the professionals take over. Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were . . . dead? Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference—in other people’s lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own. A spirituality of death began to emerge as he observed: The family who lovingly dressed their deceased father for his burial The act of embalming a little girl that offered a gift back to her grieving family The nursing home that honored a woman’s life by standing in procession as her body was taken away The funeral that united a conflicted community Through stories like these, told with equal parts humor and poignancy, Wilde offers an intimate look into the business and a new perspective on living and dying

Download or read book The History of American Funeral Directing written by Robert Wesley Habenstein and published by . This book was released on 1955 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Making of a Funeral Director written by Janice J. Richardson and published by Janice J. Richardson. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does a funeral director do with their day? Why would one want to go into funeral service? Find out what, why and much more in this entertaining memoir from a funeral director who loved her job. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this book will go to Your Life Counts @ http://yourlifecounts.org

Download or read book The Making of a Funeral Director written by Janice J Richardson and published by Janice J. Richardson. This book was released on 2017-01-13 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 10% of being a Funeral Director is dealing with the dead, the other 90% is helping the living. Perhaps the most asked personal question of any mortician/undertaker/funeral director is why? Why would you want to be a funeral director? Janice Richardson heard that a lot. Not always an easy question to answer. Funeral directors the world over share the same goal, to help people. Grief and death are something all human beings face. But why be around death and grief most of the time? Why not medicine, or police service, or accounting? Someone has to do it and when Jan was 8 years old she knew that would be her career choice. What does a funeral director do with their day? What kind of education do they need? From the first time transferring a body to the funeral home and into the prep room, to coroner's calls, and stillbirths, journey with Janice through a fulfilling career in an often misunderstood profession. "Written with compassion and grace, this book is more than just a what is a funeral director's job is and what happens to our loved ones. This book tells the story of the author's journey with honesty and integrity." Karen K.

Download or read book American Funeral Director written by and published by . This book was released on 1938 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Last Rites written by Glennys Howarth and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-11-03 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2017. This book examines death rituals and the social significance of undertaking in western society and presents an ethnographic account of funeral directing in an area of east London which, for the purposes of anonymity. It is concerned with undertakers' perceptions and organization of death rituals.

Download or read book Step Into Our Lives at the Funeral Home written by Jo Michaelson and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-29 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people are curious about what goes on behind the scenes at a funeral home. Add a live-in family to this scenario, and you'll Step Into Our Lives at the Funeral Home. Shh! Be quiet! There's someone at the door! Don't ever talk about anything you have seen or heard concerning someone's death outside the walls of our home. Mourning families need to know they can trust our integrity and our ability to keep confidentiality. For the author's family, these admonitions were ingrained in the children's minds at an early age. This book gives an insightful view of every facet of the funeral, from the time a death call is received until the funeral is completed. Stories of days in the ambulance business in conjunction with the funeral home are also related. The funeral director's role, the spouse's role, the children's role, and how the children thrived in an atmosphere of death are shared with the reader. How funeral directors cope with stress and how wives cope with their husbands during these times are revealed. Years later, following a tragic death, three people look back and share their stories of moving from despair to recovery. Interspersed through every chapter are stories and vignettes shared by many funeral directors throughout the Midwest, concerning the lifestyle for the family living in the funeral home and true incidents of specific funerals. Some stories are sad. Others are tragic. A few are humorous. Embracing faith, hope, and love is a primary requisite for healing. Intended audience: General readers of all ages, funeral home directors, hospice patients, mortuary students, and people who have had a loved one die by natural means or tragedy.

Download or read book Rest in Peace written by Gary Laderman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2003-03-06 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though it has often been passionately criticized--as fraudulent, exploitative, even pagan--the American funeral home has become nearly as inevitable as death itself, an institution firmly embedded in our culture. But how did the funeral home come to hold such a position? What is its history? And is it guilty of the charges sometimes leveled against it? In Rest in Peace, Gary Laderman traces the origins of American funeral rituals, from the evolution of embalming techniques during and after the Civil War and the shift from home funerals to funeral homes at the turn of the century, to the increasing subordination of priests, ministers, and other religious figures to the funeral director throughout the twentieth century. In doing so he shows that far from manipulating vulnerable mourners, as Jessica Mitford claimed in her best-selling The American Way of Death (1963), funeral directors are highly respected figures whose services reflect the community's deepest needs and wishes. Indeed, Laderman shows that funeral directors generally give the people what they want when it is time to bury our dead. He reveals, for example, that the open casket, often criticized as barbaric, provides a deeply meaningful moment for friends and family who must say goodbye to their loved one. But he also shows how the dead often come back to life in the popular imagination to disturb the peace of the living. Drawing upon interviews with funeral directors, major historical events like the funerals of John F. Kennedy and Rudolf Valentino, films, television, newspaper reports, proposals for funeral reform, and other primary sources, Rest in Peace cuts through the rhetoric to show us the reality--and the real cultural value--of the American funeral.

Download or read book The Funeral Director s Son written by Coleen Murtagh Paratore and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-08-05 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This family business is for life... In the small town of Clover, when you die, you are put to rest by Campbell and Sons Funeral Home. Unfortunately twelve-year-old Kip Campbell happens to be the only "son" in that title. And that's a problem for him since the funeral home business is the last thing he wants to inherit, even if he has a "gift" for it. See, it just so happens that Kip can talk to the dead. Well, they talk to him, really. They tell him what they need in order to move on to the great beyond. Kip wants to move too. Straight out of Clover. He's about to give notice -- he's done helping the dead -- when he's offered a surprising deal: Find out the secret that is holding back old Billy Blye, and Kip will receive his weight in gold. That would be enough to take him far away from Clover, and Campbell and Sons Funeral Home.

Download or read book Taking the Burdens written by Stephen R. Barley and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Death Goes Digital written by Peter J. Billingham and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-02-04 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are three compelling questions facing most Funeral Directors today. 1. How do I continue to compete and grow the funeral business in an ever-changing, digitally driven marketplace? 2. How will people find our firm when they need a Funeral Director? 3. How do I move my business more online and not lose the human touch, that's so important to the funeral industry? This book focuses on two key areas to answer those questions. 1. What is Digitisation and how is this impacting the funeral industry. 2. Why building a profile on the business social networking platform LinkedIn should be the first step to grow an online presence. This book is written to encourage action. To do nothing will be a nail in the coffin of your funeral business.

Download or read book The History of American Funeral Directing written by Robert Wesley Habenstein and published by . This book was released on 2014-04-30 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Buried Secrets written by Harry Pope and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2017-12-06 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's likely that you think of the funeral industry as a sombre one, populated by serious, grey-faced individuals whose days are filled with nothing but sadness and grief… but you couldn't be further from the truth, as Harry Pope reveals in this hilarious memoir of his time as a funeral director. Over the course of his career, Harry was involved in more than a few unusual incidents. In his early days, colleagues and eventually mourners broke into laughter as he somehow ended up sliding into a grave with the coffin coming to rest on top of him. Another day saw Harry get the fright of his life when he heard a knocking coming from the rear of the hearse, where no living person should have been. And as for the coffin that he just about prevented from being emptied onto the tarmac at Heathrow Airport… well, you’ll just have to buy the book! As well as these hilarious anecdotes, Harry introduces us to the hidden and often tragic world of the funeral arranger, with a look at his involvement in disasters such as the Piper Alpha oil rig, the Lockerbie bombing and the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise. With stories that will make you cry with tears of both sadness and laughter, this fascinating read is perfect for a wide and varied audience.

Download or read book The Evolution of the American Funeral Director written by Thomas E. Kelly and published by . This book was released on 1934 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The American Way of Death written by Jessica Mitford and published by . This book was released on 1963 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Does This Mean You ll See Me Naked written by Robert Webster and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-05-01 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why would someone want to hang out with dead bodies? With curious anecdotes and unbelievable truth, funeral director Robert Webster reveals that answer and more, offering readers entertaining and quirky stories gleaned from a life lived around death. Webster tackles those embarrassing questions we all have about what really goes on bhind the scenes when you've left this world: Strange things people put in caskets The biggest rip-offs in the business The crazy things that happen to a body after death Lime, waz, and other ways to hide the truth The most important thing an undertaker does How to avoid the high-pressure funeral parlor What that's not a coffin the body is resting in

Download or read book Ain t She Pretty Looking Back A Funeral Director s Memoirs written by Barry J. Kughn and published by Xulon Press. This book was released on 2019-11-10 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many think of a funeral home as a somber, depressing place. However, the word "home" means it is a place of comfort and a place that brims with life rather than death. "Funerals are for the living" is a commonly known truth. Families who come to a funeral home are often tired from the events leading up to their loved one's death. Sometimes they are traumatized by a sudden death, and sometimes people come to a funeral home to express support, encouragement, and respect for friends. Meeting each person's needs can be overwhelming, but it is an honor and, in many ways, a positive challenge. In this book, I want to share what it is like to be the person who comforts others, lightens their mood, encourages them, and helps them make decisions when they can sometimes barely think. In my case, the role of a funeral director is one that dates back to childhood. I was a "preacher's kid" who accompanied my father to many funerals. Sometimes afterward, especially if a pet had died, I would carry out a funeral in my own back yard, using my bicycle for a hearse, a tiny box for a casket, and garden flowers to decorate a grave. I chose to attend Mortuary College while working at a funeral home and found the work to be fulfilling. Since my first job at a funeral home, I have been amazed at how the human condition plays out in this comforting place. People share memories at a funeral home, they express grief through tears and laughter, and they sometimes return to say thanks to the funeral director who helped them find meaning after a loss. A funeral director is always blessed with families who become regular clientele when they suffer loss, thus a funeral director creates a following and close bond of friendships built on trust and a thankful heart. I hope you enjoy sharing with me in Looking Back to many of my experiences in my life's work in my hometown of Anniston, Alabama.