How Does a Funeral Director Spend a Workday?

No Workday is the Same

A funeral director may begin his workday in a quiet room at the mortuary, talking with family members about the funeral services to be conducted. A funeral director fulfills the role of advisor and guide during the mourning process. The funeral director may show family a selection of caskets, discussing not only prices but other qualities like durability and liner colors available. Observing special religious rules falls to the director's responsibility as well, and she may have to call a rabbi, imam or other cleric to check on details. Sometimes the deceased person has left special instructions for services and the funeral director must balance those requests against the family's preferences.

Education and Licenses

All states require a funeral director, or mortician, to be licensed. Licensing may be a two-year school process or four years, depending on the program, and most also require a one-year apprenticeship working under the direction of a licensed funeral director and a final, intensive exam. Many funeral directors also are trained and licensed embalmers, and have studied restoration and cosmetic work.

Not 9 to 5

Funeral directors are often called out in the middle of the night to transport bodies to the mortuary or funeral home and most work on weekends too. Once in the office, part of the workload is keeping extremely accurate and very detailed records of each process involving the body--whether it's buried, embalmed, entombed, cremated as well as whether an urn is used or if other arrangement have been made for the ashes. State officials depend upon information supplied by the funeral director to issue a death certificate.

The funeral director's duties include notifying the Social Security office and other government or corporate offices for death benefits, checks and pension stoppage. If the funeral is to be a military one, she would make arrangements with the local service representative for an honor guard and someone to play "Taps" or bagpipes.

Focus on Details

The funeral director tracks all of the details from the transportation of the body to its care at the mortuary and burial or cremation. Behind the scenes, a funeral director and assistants wash the body and conduct the embalming process if that is to be part of the service requested by either the state or the family. (State regulations determine how long a body may be kept before a funeral is conducted without it being embalmed.) The funeral director also advises the family as to whether the casket should be open or closed to viewing. The funeral director either personally, or through the use of staff, prepares the deceased for the funeral. The funeral director uses her talent and training to make the hair, face, hands and body look as natural as possible, shaving a man's face or polishing the nails on a woman's hands. A funeral director also checks with the family about whether special items, mementos or jewelry are to be buried with the body.

All in a day's Work

The director may answer numerous calls from florists and supervise the placement of wreaths and bouquets in the viewing area around the casket. If the deceased was famous, the funeral director may use part of her day to answer questions from the media and arrange for extra security at the funeral, if a large crowd of mourners might attend. The director assists in the selection of music, arranges transport for family and friends of the deceased and sends notices to newspapers and fraternal or service organization publications. He may write the obituary for the local paper, or assist a family member in doing so. The funeral director is also the person who sees to the preparation and opening of the grave site and the closing of it once the services are over.

Many funeral homes are small family-owned businesses, and sometimes a light meal for the mourners is arranged in another room of the mortuary. The funeral director may also need to call a caterer for the day of the funeral.

Resources

• Read an interview with a funeral director
• See the details from the Bureau of Labor Statistics