A dying business: Funeral industry faces a shortage of directors

Newton - The funeral business has been glorified in recent years by the popular HBO show “Six Feet Under,” but Maryann Carroll of the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association says that there are “numerous vacancies for licensed funeral directors” in the state. And it looks as though the shortage may be growing. Carroll cited many reasons for the dearth, including the extensive training, for which there is only one program in the state, and fewer children following in their parents’ footsteps. In what has traditionally been a family enterprise, Carroll said, “Fewer individuals who are born into the service are entering the business.” While many might assume that the daily contact with death and grief turns young people away, funeral directors generally have a different take. “This is a very demanding business,” said Alexis Horvath, who at 35 is taking over her parent’s Pinkel Funeral Home in Sussex. “It’s not a nine-to-five type of deal.” D.J. Wright, a funeral director at Holcombe-Fisher in Flemington, concurred. “I don’t see many young folks coming into the profession,” said the 26-year-old who is the president of the Tri-County Funeral Directors Association, which serves Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex counties. “It’s long hours, and there’s not necessarily the financial compensation for those hours.” Financial compensation, no, but those who work in the business talked about a different kind of compensation. Wright said, “I become part of the family I serve. There’s a satisfaction in knowing that you’ve truly helped someone,” especially during a particularly difficult time. That satisfaction, though, only comes for those who are truly invested. Josh Matthews, a funeral director at Goble Funeral Home in Sparta, stressed the compassion necessary for the job. “It takes a person who’s caring. You’ve got to want to do it,” he said. Neither Horvath nor Paul Ferguson, who is a director at Ferguson-Vernon Funeral Home, were able to describe exactly why they had chosen their parents’ business. “I grew up in it,” said Ferguson, whose family also owns F. John Ramsey in Franklin and Ferguson in Sussex. “I understood it better than most kids would. Something just drew me to it.” Horvath and Ferguson are becoming increasingly rare, however. Young people, like Wright who did not grow up in a funeral home, and middle-aged people, who are changing careers, are increasingly working in the industry. “A lot of older people are doing this as a second career,” said Horvath. Ferguson said that mostly schoolteachers and nurses are switching into the field. He said that nurses, who have experience with death and dying, are at an advantage over young people, who may be “book smart from their education,” but do not have as much experience. Many directors indicated that while young people are completing the training, they are unable to make it in the business once they started working. Ferguson focused on the importance introducing new responsibility to young employees “slowly and gradually,” so as not to overwhelm those early on who would eventually find themselves well-suited to the business. Horvath said that while she “always knew what type of business it was,” many know very little about it even upon completing their degrees in mortuary science. “The kids think it’s a cool job dealing with death,” she said, noting that the taboo on death is waning. And while the number of funeral directors who grew up in the business declines, the problem of misperceptions of the industry grows. While Horvath encourages young people who are interested in the business to do part-time work at a funeral home, she lamented that there were obstacles to understanding the whole picture. For instance, before entering an embalming room, a series of shots must be administered for diseases like Hepatitis B, she explained, so most high school employees end up setting up chairs, doing yard work and washing cars. These sorts of unglamourous tasks, though, may actually paint a fuller picture for young people of the business. It’s the students at mortuary school who often do not realize how much of their jobs will happen behind the scenes who are likely to be the most surprised. Much of the job is setting up for and cleaning up after funerals. Horvath mentioned that the job also includes “lots of go-foring,” like fetching death certificates from medical examiners. Her roommate at mortuary school left the business soon after starting her first job because school had not prepared her for the all-consuming nature of the job. In addition to the long hours, Wright stressed the emotional aspects of the job. He said, “I cry with families.” Though he had been instructed in mortuary school not to cry at funerals, he felt that “if you become numb to the emotions, then you’re no good.” Wright said his background in psychology helped him to understand that people feared death because they did not understand it; Americans tend to willfully ignore the end of life, and that ignorance leads to fear. A psychology major alone does not a funeral director make, however. Horvath also encouraged students interested in the field to study public speaking, as well as the more typical subjects, such as biology and organic chemistry. Horvath mentioned she was happy to have some speech training as she is often called upon to speak to community groups about her industry. Wright was excited by what he termed an “eclectic” mix of subject areas that he dealt with each day. All the directors felt the business had offered them many opportunities, but they were careful to stress that, while they hoped to pass their businesses on, they shyed away from recruiting too hard for a career they felt was not for everyone. “It’s not a situation where you can talk someone into it,” said Ferguson. “It’s more about being up front and honest and letting them know what the business is all about in advance.”