Mike Squires
CFSP, CCO Editor/Publisher
Sometimes you just know. . . . Sept. 13, 1962, was one of those times. My dad, 51, had been dead for only a couple of hours. Mr. Heyward Goldfinch, our funeral director, was sitting at our kitchen table. His soft-spoken voice, the compassion, his very presence stirred in me something beyond my dad’s death. I was 14.
Three years later, I was working for Mr. Goldfinch during the summer. Walking together from a small church cemetery, just before we reached the hearse, he turned and said, “Mike, why don’t you drive us back to the funeral home.” That was the first time I drove a hearse, and, from that day forward, there was no doubt why I was born.
My career in funeral service has spanned five decades, from the earliest days at a funeral home in rural South Carolina to managing South Carolina’s state association for the past 17 years and serving as editor of its trade publications. In between, I served families at McEwen Funeral Service in Charlotte – one of the largest firms in North Carolina – and was vice president and general manager of Wilson Funeral Service, also in Charlotte.
This incredible journey and lifelong learning experience have given me the opportunity to share with you my passion – Southern Calls.
MIKE@SOUTHERNCALLS.COM
Mike Squires CFSP, CCO
Editor/Publisher
Sometimes you just know. . . . Sept. 13, 1962, was one of those times. My dad, 51, had been dead for only a couple of hours. Mr. Heyward Goldfinch, our funeral director, was sitting at our kitchen table. His soft-spoken voice, the compassion, his very presence stirred in me something beyond my dad’s death. I was 14.
Three years later, I was working for Mr. Goldfinch during the summer. Walking together from a small church cemetery, just before we reached the hearse, he turned and said, “Mike, why don’t you drive us back to the funeral home.” That was the first time I drove a hearse, and, from that day forward, there was no doubt why I was born.
My career in funeral service has spanned five decades, from the earliest days at a funeral home in rural South Carolina to managing South Carolina’s state association for the past 17 years and serving as editor of its trade publications. In between, I served families at McEwen Funeral Service in Charlotte – one of the largest firms in North Carolina – and was vice president and general manager of Wilson Funeral Service, also in Charlotte.
This incredible journey and lifelong learning experience have given me the opportunity to share with you my passion – Southern Calls.
MIKE@SOUTHERNCALLS.COM
Alice Adams
Associate Editor/Staff Writer
Throughout my life, I have continued my insatiable curiosity about people, places, cultures and customs, which served me well when I was hired by SCI in 1989. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to meet, know and learn from some of the greatest funeral directors of that time and some of the best people I have ever known. Now, nearly three decades later, I cherish the opportunity to educate the public about a profession that, until now, has been invisible in our society’s history.
RTADAMS2@AOL.COM
Throughout my life, I have continued my insatiable curiosity about people, places, cultures and customs, which served me well when I was hired by SCI in 1989. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to meet, know and learn from some of the greatest funeral directors of that time and some of the best people I have ever known. Now, nearly three decades later, I cherish the opportunity to educate the public about a profession that, until now, has been invisible in our society’s history.
RTADAMS2@AOL.COM
Luke Teague
Associate Editor/Staff Writer
After graduating from UGA with a journalism degree in 2008, I began my apprenticeship at Lord & Stephens Funeral Homes in Athens. I relocated to Augusta and a brief stint as advanced planning coordinator at Platt’s Funeral Home before taking a position as a funeral director and embalmer at Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors. As associate editor and staff writer for Southern Calls, I plan to bring a fresh, novel perspective to the constantly-evolving funeral profession and ministry.
LUCAS.D.TEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
After graduating from UGA with a journalism degree in 2008, I began my apprenticeship at Lord & Stephens Funeral Homes in Athens. I relocated to Augusta and a brief stint as advanced planning coordinator at Platt’s Funeral Home before taking a position as a funeral director and embalmer at Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors. As associate editor and staff writer for Southern Calls, I plan to bring a fresh, novel perspective to the constantly-evolving funeral profession and ministry.
LUCAS.D.TEAGUE@GMAIL.COM
Gloria Squires
Associate Editor
Southern Calls is a labor of love. I have been privileged to be present for its gestation and its birth, to ponder names for its feature headings, to help proof, edit, critique, and imagine its future. I come to this magazine through marriage, with lessons of its own. For three of Mike’s five decades in funeral service, I have been partner in the dream of sharing the story—yours, mine and ours.
GABHS@SOUTHERNCALLS.COM
Southern Calls is a labor of love. I have been privileged to be present for its gestation and its birth, to ponder names for its feature headings, to help proof, edit, critique, and imagine its future. I come to this magazine through marriage, with lessons of its own. For three of Mike’s five decades in funeral service, I have been partner in the dream of sharing the story—yours, mine and ours.
gabhs@southerncalls.com
Bobby Carlsen
Photographer
An international award-winning photographic artist specializing in designing original works of art, I opened my studio in Danville, Virginia, in 2005. The Bobby Carlsen Photography studio is widely known not only for its excellent customer service but also for cutting-edge imagery that captures the essence of my subjects. I foster an environment where clients become friends, and this connection with my subjects has become an integral part of my signature style.
BOBBY@BOBBYCARLSEN.COM
An international award-winning photographic artist specializing in designing original works of art, I opened my studio in Danville, Virginia, in 2005. The Bobby Carlsen Photography studio is widely known not only for its excellent customer service but also for cutting-edge imagery that captures the essence of my subjects. I foster an environment where clients become friends, and this connection with my subjects has become an integral part of my signature style.
bobby@bobbycarlsen.com
