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 Vines Funeral Home of LaFayette, Alabama, and out to Marshalltown, Iowa where we visit with Marty Mitchell and the Iowa Funeral Museum – we love the history of the funeral profession. It is rich with tradition, quality, reverence to a certain way of doing things, and the dignity of serving. Our 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.
PEOPLE By Alice Adams
“For most of my early days at the funeral home, I wasn’t legally old enough to drive the ambulance, but I rode, especially with my dad, on many calls. I was 16 when I began going on ambulance calls, and that was exciting for a young kid,” he said. “Usually, if we had to transport a patient to Chapel Hill or Duke, I took my school books so I could get my lessons while we waited until the doctors either admitted the patient or we took them back home.”
Like most ambulance crewmen, Jim took his turn with back-of-the ambulance deliveries.
“I was 16 and the patient was delivering her eighth child. I did what she told me to do and, basically, caught the infant when she pushed it out. It was an exciting experience,” he said.
PLACES By Todd Harra
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. There was a stage encircled with a wreath of balloons woven into an American flag. There was food. There was music. There was merriment. The occasion was the unveiling of a historical marker commemorating the listing of Vines Funeral Home and Ambulance Service on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a distinction held by only one funeral home in the entire state.
But for Merilyn Vines, president of Vines Funeral Home, the day was bittersweet. Her daddy, Julius Summers Vines, the man who began the home’s historic legacy, wasn’t there to witness the festivities.
PASSIONS By Alice Adams
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 full of caskets and funeral memorabilia, so we took an extra room in the new building and made it a museum of sorts,” the Marshalltown native said.
In 2008, an expansion of the original property offered still more room to display the growing collection of memorabilia. By the time the new building for an adjacent crematorium was finished in 2013, there was an even larger space for Marty’s collection, which had grown exponentially.
Order this issue
Southern Calls Issue 29
In stock
Articles Relating to Issue 29
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 reconstruction involved if there was to be a viewing. The funeral…
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 smile,And the sweet-scented zephyrs, the senses beguile;The birds of the air…
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 may have become familiar with the longtime chief executive officer of…
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 physical prescence of the NFDA through the years, and reconstruction…
