The Top 10 Funeral Articles of 2015

1. 6 Things Funeral Directors Are Dying To Tell You (But Never Will) 

   I have to admit, when I first entered the funeral service world three years ago, I was a little weary of funeral directors.

   After all, everything I read and saw about them shined a negative light on them. But after spending the last three years getting to know them personally, I can easily say that funeral directors are some of the friendliest, most caring people I’ve ever met on this planet. The sad thing is funeral directors can’t be everywhere at all times to defend themselves when people refer to them in a negative way. And that’s why I’m here today to shed some light on that negative stigma surrounding the funeral profession and the amazing people who work in it.

   Here are 6 things I’ve learned about funeral directors after getting to know them, and what you can learn if you get to know them, too:

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/45500-6-things-funeral-directors-are-dying-to-tell-you-but-never-will

2. Here’s what it’s REALLY like to be an embalmer

   Preserving dead bodies for a living might seem weird or creepy or depressing. “But it’s actually one of the most rewarding jobs in the world,” says John “Jack” Mitchell IV, a sixth generation funeral director and embalmer.

   After graduating from Lehigh University with a bachelor’s in business management in 1993, Mitchell returned home to start serving his apprenticeship at his family’s funeral home while attending the Mortuary Science program at Catonsville Community College outside of Baltimore.

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/47174-heres-what-its-really-like-to-be-an-embalmer

3. Designer Wants To Bring Intimacy To Grieving With a Sex Toy That Holds Cremated Remains [This is True]
   How do you want to be remembered when you die?

   And what memorial would you choose?

   How about having your ashes used in a sex toy, so your partner can remember your more intimate moments together?

   Probably not the most obvious answer, but designer Mark Sturkenboom hopes it will catch on (we kid you not).

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/46223-cremation-ashes-sex-toy
   

4. Retired driver ready for last stop in a school bus casket
   Many of the best years of Glen Davis’ life were spent driving a school bus for Grand Meadow Public Schools.

   He drove bus for 55 years. There was hardly anything about it he didn’t like. He loved the kids. And when he finally decided to call it quits a decade ago, he wasn’t sure it was the right decision.

   So, Davis draws comfort from the thought that when he makes that final bus trip — the one that all of us will make one day — his final resting place will be in a casket decorated like a Grand Meadow school bus, right down to a painted red stop sign on the side and the No. 3, the number of the first bus he drove when he started out in 1949.

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/45719-retired-driver-ready-for-last-stop-in-a-school-bus-casket

5. Two Funeral Directors Were Fired When This Photo Went Viral
   Rob Carpenter did a double-take on his way into his New Port Richey Dunkin’ Donuts. But there it was, straddling two parking spots: a hearse, with the front window down, back curtains drawn and a flag-draped coffin on display.
   He took video, snapped a photo and then confronted the funeral home workers when they returned, coffee and a bag of doughnuts in hand.

   Carpenter, whose own father served this country in the military, described his confrontation with the driver.

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/46344-two-funeral-directors-were-fired-when-this-photo-went-viral
   
   

6. This Is What I’ve Learned So Far From Working At A Funeral Home
   It really is just like any other job. Besides the caskets outside my office door, the smell of embalming fluids filling the air, and the dozens of flower bouquets. Working in a funeral home is not dark, sad, or creepy. In fact, this is probably one of the best and most pleasant places I have been to and here’s why.

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/46832-this-is-what-ive-learned-so-far-from-working-at-a-funeral-home

7. Funeral Director Speaks Out About Concerns on Controversial Topic
   When the bodies of two of his friends were delivered to his funeral home in downtown Champaign on a single day in June, Chuck Vaughn said he looked at one of them and “about lost it.”

   This particular man had been an organ and tissue donor, and his heart, kidney, liver, part of his lung and the long bones of his legs had been surgically removed, or recovered, for donation, said Vaughn, the owner of Heath & Vaughn Funeral Home.

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/46656-funeral-director-speaks-out-about-concerns-on-controversial-topic
   
   

8. SCI Cemetery In Trouble Again For Throwing Out Human Remains
   One of the nation’s largest Jewish cemeteries and the resting place of notables including Groucho Marx has been sued for allegedly breaking vaults to make room for more graves and throwing out human bones in a pile.

   More than 60 people accuse Eden Memorial Park in Los Angeles suburb of Mission Hills of negligence, fraud and other civil offenses, according to the Los Angeles Daily News

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/45884-sci-cemetery-in-trouble-again-for-throwing-out-human-remains
   
   

9. Why Do Hearses Have S-Shaped Scrolls Where the Back Windows Should Be?
   Those diagonal irons on the rear quarter panel of hearses are called “landau bars.” They are purely decorative today, but they once served a purpose and are now in place as a nod to history.

   The landau carriage was invented in Germany in the mid-18th century. Lightweight and suspended on elliptical springs, this four-in-hand coach was a precursor to today’s convertible cars in that it had a collapsible roof. The soft folding top on the original model was divided into two sections, front and rear, which were latched in the center. An elongated external hinge mechanism was necessary to support the folding roof, and since the pricey landau was designed as a luxury vehicle for the upper classes, designers added the elegant S-shaped scroll to the utilitarian hinges to make them more aesthetically appealing.

   – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/47113-why-do-hearses-have-s-shaped-scrolls-where-the-back-windows-should-be
   
   

10. NSFW: When Dead Bodies Are Your Job, Death Becomes a Way of Life

    If you’ve ever watched a crime scene drama like CSI, you’ve probably asked yourself, “Is that what really happens?” German photographer Patrik Budenz wondered the same thing, but unlike most of us, he decided to put in the time to find out.

    To sate his curiosity, Budenz spent months convincing the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences in Berlin to give him full access to their facilities. For years after, he was constantly around cadavers. The results are two photo series: search for evidence (published as a book in 2011) is about forensic scientists and post mortem (published as a book this year) covers all the places dead bodies visit after death — funeral homes, crematoriums, etc.

    – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/46666-nsfw-when-dead-bodies-are-your-job-death-becomes-a-way-of-life

Bonus: A Mistress, Gunshots and Casket Drop: 40 Funeral Directors Tell Us About Their Worst Day On The Job

Just when we think we have heard it all – we decided to ask 6,400 funeral directors the question; What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you on a funeral or while serving a family? Some of these stories will blow your mind. – See more at: http://connectingdirectors.com/articles/45829-funeral-director-worst-day-ever