Hot off the press...Southern Calls 41 - This special issue covers the Obsequies of Todd Van Beck as told by Jack Lechner and Todd Harra. Well known and respected, TVB's wishes are honored by close friends and shared with us in an intimate story with firsthand writing...
Article Category
Issue 39 Available Now!
Southern Calls Issue 39 brings you stories from across the country with a brilliant, young Tennessee professional navigating career changes with ease; an historic and classically beautiful...
After Life Mortuary Services
The year is 1961. The Soviet Union has just successfully put Yuri Gagarin into space—and brought him home again. The Soviets are winning the space race. President John F. Kennedy immediately begins...
Snyder Funeral Homes
More than 100 years ago, Ora O. Snyder worked as a horse keeper for undertaking establishments. Known as Orrie to friends and colleagues, his early exposure to funeral service consisted of...
Mitchell’s Journey
I drove by your building a hundred thousand times and never once noticed it. Why would I? Death is what happens to other people. And when you have young children, mortality is the last thing on your...
Issue 38 Available Now!
Featuring our exclusive article with the staff from Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home on the tragedy at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, Southern Calls Issue 38 brings you the details from a funeral...
Issue 37 Available Now!
What a unique collection of articles we have put together for our September issue -- read about the extraordinary details of the life and death of the world famous P.T. Barnum and his friend and...
Bibber Memorial Chapel
The air smells briny and gulls caw overhead. In the distance, against the backdrop of an iron-colored horizon, a few hearty lobstermen trawl the sea, braving the frigid temperatures. It’s snowing...
Rhonda Keyes Pleasants
Before reading any further, pause for a moment and reflect on your career, regardless of your age or your job title. Reminisce about opportunities that were afforded to you, both past and present....
Issue 36 Available Now!
See the beauty and honor of the funeral profession reflected through a father’s eyes as he documents the passing of his beloved son – every funeral director should own this issue. Mitchell’s Journey...
Issue 35 Available Now!
It’s our first issue of 2022 and what a way to start the year – the inspirational story of Rhonda Keyes Pleasants details a fortuitous encounter that led her to the profession – our People article...
Jack Backer
At first glance, John Willmott “Jack” Backer, III – age 16, tall, handsome, varsity tennis player and straight-A sophomore at Sayre School in Lexington, Kentucky – appears to be a typical teenager...
Stevens Mortuary
Stevens Mortuary occupies the historic Cedar Grove estate nestled in north Knoxville, Tennessee. When one arrives at the mortuary, surrounded by flowering dogwood trees, the stately antebellum era...
Kenneth W. Poe
First generation funeral directors are fearless. With either none or very little familial connection to a funeral home, stories vary widely as to what initial interest or curiosity eventually...
Issue 34 Available Now!
Join us as we wrap up another year, and while deliveries of everything around the world are apparently delayed off the coast of San Diego, we’re bringing you best wishes for a wonderful holiday...
Dancer to Director
It’s raining in Far West Dallas, hard enough for rivulets of water to ooze through cheap, wooden window and door frames and down the water-stained walls of housing projects clumped together along...
Cremation in America
America’s “Modern” Cremation Movement It was a cold and rainy December day in 1876 when the modern cremation movement in America made its debut. In the small town of Washington, Penn., Dr. Francis...
S. Todd Rose
As chief of the Air Force’s Casualty Headquarters, Todd Rose is charged with a mission unlike any other in the United States Air Force. When an airman is killed, wounded, injured, or even takes ill,...
Lisa Scott-Coleman
It was 1990 and Lisa Scott-Coleman was in the kitchen busy making dinner, unaware that her life was about to take an entirely different trajectory. She had a good job, a management role for a...
The Heritage of Hart’s
Just prior to the dawn of the 20th century and nearly two decades following Reconstruction, Jesse B. Hart founded his modest mortuary in a small, single-room structure on Mulberry Street in Macon,...
Issue 33 Available Now
It’s already September, the leaves will be changing soon, and the next issue of Southern Calls will be arriving in your mailbox! There’s a lot to look forward to… first, we have chief of the Air...
Anna Wilbert Breaux
Fifth-generation Funeral Director Anna Wilbert Breaux has spent her life learning the funeral profession. As a youngster, her first classes were held around the dinner table when relatives came for...
Issue 32 Available Now
Our June issue is out now! Read about Louisiana lady, Anna Wilbert Breaux, a 5th generation funeral director with a passion for saltwater fishing that provides leadership for a historic business...
Author-Undertaker | Todd Harra
“It’s such an honor to be able to walk with people during their time of need,” said Todd Harra, vice president of McCrery & Harra Funeral Homes and Crematory in Wilmington, Delaware. “But I...
Funetorium | All Things Funereal
Attila Bethlenfalvy stands out in a crowd of funeral directors. With his gauged ears, shaven head and bushy, peppered beard, Bethlenfalvy doesn’t look the part, and he’s not a funeral director,...
Thomas Lynch | Bringing the Living & the Dead Closer
Thomas Lynch is a man who needs no introduction. He’s well known—even famous, though he’d certainly argue that—in undertaking, poetic, and literary circles. Lynch won the American Book Award in 1998...
“Being There” | Robert Clint Walker
The alarm of the cellphone balanced on the dash rouses Clint Walker from an uncomfortable sleep. Brushing away empty coffee cups and food wrappers, Clint unfolds himself out of the pickup truck and...
The Standard Cremation & Funeral Center | Anderson, South Carolina
All funeral directors have experienced “the call.” One presumption might define it as a specific experience that attracted an individual to serve in our sacred profession. However, another...
Issue 31 Available Now
This is such an incredible issue! Join us as we celebrate The Profession with three amazing People, Places and Passions articles, told by our award-winning writers and brought to life with...
Kristin Tips | San Antonio, Texas
“Can you imagine a day when the world’s first drive-in funeral theater would be in the headlines? Or imagine a time when thousands of people at home would choose to watch a televised life tribute...
Issue 30 Available Now
It’s been a year unlike any other, and we’re here to wrap it up with another blockbuster issue highlighted by three very uniquely different features, lots of history and, as always, the best...
A Man of Many Skills
Fountain National Academy of Professional Embalming SkillsSpringfield, Missouri The call came in from another state: an innocent bystander had been caught in the middle of a shootout. There would be...
The NFDA Story
A BRIEF HISTORY OF NFDA SPANNING THREE CENTURIES Come, gather, come, gather, ye knights of the grave,A welcome awaits you right royally brave;Our fields they look fresh and our brooklets they...
The CEO | Christine Pepper
At first glance, you might recognize Christine Reichelt Pepper from photos in The Director magazine, where she has been featured alongside an abundance of funeral directors past and present. Others...
Issue 29 Available Now
Despite some virus-related delays slowing our print production, Issue 29 is hitting the post office and should arrive soon! We are proud to feature Christine Pepper “The CEO” at NFDA, as well as the...
Marty Mitchell | Iowa Funeral Museum
Some people collect stamps or baseball cards – or maybe dolls or trophies. Marty Mitchell is into all things funereal. “When we opened Mitchell Family Funeral Home in 2005, I already had a garage...
A Legacy of Family and Community | Vines Funeral Home
On a sunny, early autumn day in LaFayette, Alabama, a sleepy little town of fewer than 3,000 people, professional vehicles were displayed on the front lawn of what was once a modest brick bungalow....
Following Family Footsteps | James A. Lowe II
Like his grandfather and father before him, third-generation Funeral Director/Embalmer James A. “Jim” Lowe II is passionate about helping others. The owner and president of Lowe (rhymes with wow)...
Issue 28 Available Now
There’s definitely an eye for history in Issue 28, from the service-minded 3rd generation funeral director Jim Lowe of Burlington, NC, to the newly-recognized National Register of Historic Places...
Issue 27 Available Now
It’s all about the B’s for our latest issue… from the small Southern town of Bremen, Georgia, to urban downtown Baltimore, Maryland and out to a cattle pasture in Brewton, Alabama we cover a broad range of People, Places, and Passions – and there’s even real Bees (see Passions article). The photos are compelling, the stories are moving, and they’re all told from a Funeral Director’s Perspective. There’s only one place you can find inspiration like this, Southern Calls – The Journal of the Funeral Profession.
Patty Hutcheson, CFSP | A Journey of Love & Life
The definition of professional success is subjective. For a funeral director, it might be determined by job security, salary or seniority. An owner, perhaps, could measure triumph by consecutive...
Jarrod Heath Wilson | A Man of Many Layers
If you’ve never been to Brewton, Alabama, you may not know this city of 5,100 is on the border of Central Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. You also might not know that Alabama’s Blueberry...
Billy Graham | Funeral & Eulogies
Leading up to the day of the funeral, feelings of anxiety and uncertainty abounded. Although receiving media passes for the visitation had been fairly streamlined and straightforward, obtaining...
The New Tradition | Joseph H. Brown, Jr. Funeral Home
“The impediment of action becomes action. What stands in the way becomes the way,” says Joseph H. Brown, III, quoting Marcus Aurelius. Joe laughs ironically because he doesn’t allow anything to...
Duane Hills | President of Joseph Gawler’s Sons
As a student at Williamson Junior and Senior High School in Tioga Junction, Pennsylvania, Duane Hills, now 61, discovered a passion for American history that was nurtured by his grandfather. “He...
Joseph Gawler’s Sons | Funeral Home of the Presidents
It’s difficult to know what 5-year-old Joseph Gawler was thinking as the ship bringing his family from Bristol, England, steamed into Alexandria, Virginia, that day in 1832. One can only imagine the...
Tommy Hudson | Steward of the Centennial
In 1919, the Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest structure, movies were silent and the income of an average American family was a mere $1,500. One century ago, a signed armistice signaled the end...
Remembering Jacquelyn Taylor
In a career that came full-circle, the enduring and steadfast funeral service advocate was excited about the opportunity to continue her life’s work. But on August 10, 2018 Jacquelyn Taylor was...
Waterman’s Cortege | Bradshaw & Sons Funeral Home
Around here, captaining is something passed down from generation to generation,” says Robert H. “Bob” Bradshaw Jr., owner of Bradshaw & Sons Funeral Home in Crisfield, Maryland. “I think it’s in...
Rooted in Southern Tradition | Jerry Griffey
When you meet veteran funeral director Jerry Griffey, you are struck by his soft Southern drawl and the pride he takes – and has always taken – in serving as a funeral director for the families in...
Married, Mortician, Mom | Michelle Adams
Serving as a funeral director is arguably one of the most demanding career paths one could choose – or be chosen to do. While those employed by larger firms are given the option to work alternating...
The Metzlers of Arlington National Cemetery
Imagine living in Arlington National Cemetery, where every street and lane is a veritable history lesson. Some are named for American presidents and others for military leaders from every war – all...
Paradise, California Wildfire
Nestled at 1,700 feet in the northwest foothills of the Central Valley in the Sierras, Paradise, California, is 100 miles northeast of the capital city of Sacramento, 10 miles north of Oroville and...
Jacquelyn Taylor, PhD | The Thinking Coach
Imagine the soundtrack of your life. Focus on an artist who plays the acoustic guitar. Whether you love James Taylor, Bob Dylan or Joan Baez or favor newer musicians such as Dave Matthews, Ed...
The Marsellus Casket Company
For over 130 years, Marsellus Casket Company remained true to its highly principled, purposeful mission to manufacture the finest handcrafted hardwood caskets and offer maximum value to funeral home...
Kimberly Farris-Luke | Madame President
Farris Funeral Service | Abingdon, Virginia On a typical Saturday morning at an Abingdon, Virginia, funeral home, the sound of a little girl’s footsteps, skipping down the stairs from the...
Daniel E. Buchanan | Wisdom Beyond the Classroom
For professionals, college is often viewed as the most formidable part of any career. As the morning dew turns to frost and leaves begin to change, fall semester is already in full swing....
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