Article Category: Passions | Pillars | SC24
Michelle Adams | Adams

Married, Mortician, Mom | Michelle Adams

Posted Saturday, Jun 01
Written by Luke Teague
Photography by Robert Cooper
Southern Calls, Vol. 24, June 2019

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 weekends or to use livery services for nighttime removals, many family firms and genuine owner/operators work in the proverbial trenches by spending endless hours at the office during holidays, in the middle of the night and every day of the week – whenever duty calls. While rewarding in many ways, the profession can still be grueling, challenging the patience of spouses and families who remain optimistic and devoted despite having to share the attention of the person they love with a bereaved family.            

“Staying grounded and setting priorities are just a few ways to successfully manage my life,” said Michelle Adams, a married, mortician mom who juggles three full-time roles – and not necessarily in that order.

Although Adams has called Savannah, Georgia, home for many years, the former military brat was actually born in Korea and spent her early childhood in Mississippi and Japan.

“My dad was in the Air Force for 23 years and met my mom while he was stationed in Korea,” she described, attributing their long marriage to a mutual love and respect for each other. “My mom knew very little English, and many Asians are not able to work for other people because of the language barrier, so she really made her own way and was a natural entrepreneur. After being awarded the contract, she began cleaning homes on the base.”

       

Adams’ parents, Benjamin and Sun Hui Hamilton, pictured in front of their home in  Savannah, Georgia (TL Photography & Design)   Inset: Adams’ parents while stationed in Osan Air Base in South Korea (early 1980’s)
Adams’ parents, Benjamin and Sun Hui Hamilton, pictured in front of their home in Savannah, Georgia (TL Photography & Design)
Inset: Adams’ parents while stationed in Osan Air Base in South Korea (early 1980’s)

“It was so different from what I knew. The people showed up for funerals and carried themselves with reverence,” Hills said. “On the streets in town as well as on the highways, cars pulled over. Drivers often stopped their engines, got out and stood by their cars, removing their hats and placing them over their hearts when a procession passed. I had never seen anything like that.”

The remainder of this article is reserved for subscribers only

In addition to receiving all of our quarterly magazines by mail, subscribers to Southern Calls have exclusive access to additional online articles, as well as ability to read all Southern Calls magazine articles as they come available.

Get your One Year or Two Year subscription today, or login here to continue viewing the rest of the article. 

Order this issue

Southern Calls Issue 24

In stock

Articles Relating to Issue 24

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

Other Recent Articles

Issue 34 Available Now!

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 season and a loaded December issue sure to satisfy. At 68, and proving...

read more
Dancer to Director

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 and to the west of Interstate 30.    People living along posh...

read more
Cremation in America

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 Julius LeMoyne, a local eccentric physician, had built a simple...

read more
S. Todd Rose

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, it is Todd’s job is to ensure actions are taken to support the airman...

read more
Lisa Scott-Coleman

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 medical company, and was about to get married. Scott-Coleman’s fiancé,...

read more

Join Our Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter to periodically receive article updates, industry news, and details about new issues before they are released.

The Magazine

Never miss an issue.

Subscribers receive all of our quarterly magazines by mail, as well as all exclusive content on the website.