Funeral home jobs
Funeral homes are businesses in the US that provide funeral related services to the families who have just lost a member or kin. Most of them are family businesses that have the funeral director as the owner or as an employee. They provide the necessary services according to the wishes of the deceased or their families. The services usually undertaken by funeral homes are to prepare a wake and provide the chapel for the funeral and more. They take care of all the necessary paperwork involved from the authorities such as permits, cemetery arrangements and providing obituary to the newspapers and other media. They usually arrange for embalming the body to prevent decay and embarrassment resulting from it.
Despite the different cultures and religious practices prevalent in the US, there are some similarities, like deceased being taken to the mortuary and preparing the body for the funeral, arranging the ceremony to honor the deceased, other spiritual needs of the families and finally put the remains to rest by burying or cremation as requested. The place of funeral services may vary depending upon the deceased or the families. It may be held at home, a funeral home, a place of worship, graveyard or the crematory. Most of the funeral homes have a chapel, a viewing room, a preparation room and a casket selection room. Some funeral homes have added a crematory as cremation is gaining popularity in the recent times. They also usually have a flower car, a hearse, limousines and sometimes, an ambulance to save the trouble of running around for these facilities.
The Funeral directors are the professionals who are responsible for the conduct
of such services by the funeral home. They must be license holders from the
state where from they function as funeral directors. They are usually graduates
in mortuary science. Funeral homes are mostly family businesses and the profitability
depends on the customer service they provide to the communities. The funeral
directors must be familiar with and aware of different funeral and burial
procedures of many different customs and faiths or ethnic groups.
Functions of a Funeral Director
Funeral Directors are also called morticians and undertakers are specialists and take pride in providing well organized and appropriate services according to the wishes of the family of the deceased. They help the family members in every way at their time of grief.
They meticulously carry out the logistics of the funerals after discussing with the family members about the procedures, and who would be the officiating clergy and how the remains of the deceased is to be disposed off. They must follow the instructions if left by the deceased on how his funeral should be performed or as the family wishes.
The logistical concerns are normally arranging a hearse to take the body to the mortuary, setting the exact time, date and place of services and the burial. They should prepare and distribute the obituary notices to the newspapers, making arrangements for pall bearers and clergy.
They should schedule a proper time for the opening and losing of the grave in co-ordination with the cemetery representatives.
They arrange for decoration of the places of all services, transportation of the mourners to these sites, and supply of flowers to all the sites.
In the case of out of state burials, the funeral directors hold the responsibility of overseeing the preparation of the remains and its transportation to the desired destination.
The funeral director has to take care of all the relevant paperwork in connection with the death of a person. The forms submitted by the funeral directors are the basis on which states issue the death certificate of the deceased person. They may also help the families in some cases such as in requesting the veterans burial benefits, informing the death to the Social Security Administration, help in applying on behalf of the survivors for pension, annuities or insurance policies of the deceased.
There are some administrative duties also in the schedule of a funeral director. They have to keep records of all expenses and purchases, prepare and send invoices, preparation and submitting of reports for unemployment insurance, Tax form preparation for state and federal taxes, preparation of itemized bills and so on. The usage of computers has become essential part of the funeral director's work life for billing and maintaining records. They also use email for corresponding with customers regarding preplanning of funerals. Funeral directors use the internet for developing guest books and electronic obituaries.
Of late many funeral directors' services extend further to other areas like aftercare services. They assist the survivors to adapt to life following the death of a close relative. This again reflects the humanitarian nature of this profession.
Embalming
Most of the funeral directors are trained and licensed and are practicing embalmers. The funeral homes employ usually a couple of embalmers and several embalming apprentices. Embalming is a sanitary and also a cosmetic process to preserve and prepare the body for internment. Embalming is mandatory if the internment takes place after 24 hours of death. First of all, the body is cleaned with a germicidal soap. The blood in the body is removed and the embalming fluid is added to prevent tissue decay. In case of any disfiguration, they correct them and reconstruct or reshape the body using clay, cotton, wax or plaster of Paris etc. To give the body a natural appearance, they use cosmetics too. They dress the body and position it in a casket. They keep the reports pertaining to all the details of embalming and also the itemized list of clothing and valuables that adorn the body and other such records for billing the clients.
Funeral Assistants
The duties of the Funeral Assistants are mainly to make sure that the funeral procedures are run smoothly and to assist the Funeral Director in every way. They may also act as pall bearers, may drive cars in funeral processions, shift the deceased to the funeral home, maintain the funeral home and arrange flowers etc. The duties include greeting people at the funeral home, perform paperwork such as recording deaths, obtaining burial permits and assisting people in making charitable donations etc. They should possess a professional attitude and be able to serve many different religions and customs and be aware of rituals that are part of the funeral service. The funeral assistant must make sure that the service rendered is highly respectful and comforting to the family of the deceased.
Men and women who have a natural tendency to help others and are mature and
level-headed are making flourishing careers in the field of funeral homes.
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