November 12, 2014

Emma Cox

While the majority of Americans spend their lives working jobs that many would deem

normal, like filing paperwork in a cubical, being a nurse, or teaching a classroom of students,

Brad Smith works with the dead on a day-to-day basis. The 59-year-old Mercer County man

starts his day off like any other person, taking his dog for a walk around the block, checking his

emails, watching the news, and grabbing a cup of coffee at the local Dunkin’ Donuts; It’s where

Smith begins his work day that is exceedingly out of the ordinary—a funeral home.

Being fully aware of the uniqueness of his career, Smith believes that it takes a special

person to hold such positions. To him, it isn’t the often challenging work that makes the job,

it’s the payoff.

“My job isn’t about fun,” Smith said, as he began to cover the blemishes on a recently

deceased, elderly woman’s face, as she lay still in a casket. “My job is rewarding and

meaningful. I do enjoy it, though, in a way most people wouldn’t be able to understand. It

surely can’t be done by everyone.”

Smith is the current owner and co-director of the Smith Funeral Home in Slippery Rock

with his brother Craig. Having the only funeral home in the area, Smith meets a variety of

people and holds a reputation of respect and trustworthiness within the community. He works

alongside his brother, making sure his family name is represented with pride.

“Working with my brother is a great experience,” Smith, 62, said. “The way we were

raised and our understanding of what we expect as business partners is what makes us

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successful. I give him a lot of credit for that, too. He’s extremely caring and trustworthy and

that’s important.”

For Smith, being a funeral director is not out of the ordinary in his family, it’s a way of

life. He comes from a line of funeral home directors and owners, making him a fifth generation

director. The Smiths grew up in Leesburg, PA, under a long line of funeral home directors,

dating back to 1848, with his grandfather’s grandfather.

“I grew up in funeral homes,” Smith explained thoroughly, brushing a smudge of

cosmetic makeup off the sleeve of his brown, clean, professional suit. “I was able to see how

everything worked and I think that’s important in truly understanding this job. I wasn’t exposed

to things like the mortuary room or any pre-cosmetic bodies as a young child; I think that’s

important to know. But I was able to see what goes into this job, how to care for individuals

that are grieving and making sure that everything played out the way they wanted. Seeing the

results of the work is what made me want to get into it myself, in the first place. Most of the

people I talk to in my line of work come from a family in the business. Without the background

knowledge, I don’t see anyone choosing this career.”

Though Smith was aware of what it took to work as a funeral director, as he’d seen it in

his family, he had to take the educational steps in getting his license to pursue the career. He

explained that an associate’s degree, two years of mortuary school, and a 12 month internship.

After getting a degree in economics, graduating from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary

Science, completing his internship at his mother’s funeral home, the Grace Cunningham Smith

Funeral Home in Leesburg, and passing the state licensing exam, Smith was given his funeral

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director license in 1977, one year after his brother. The two opened Smith Funeral Home three

years late in 1980.

“Originally, we wanted to branch off and move,” Smith said. “But after meeting so many

people through our family businesses, we knew that we wanted to stay close and work for

people that we cared for, people who could trust us. I don’t think our business would be as

successful in a big city. It’s important to know these people and help them cope. They are

coming to us, often at their lowest points, and we want to make sure everything runs smoothly

for them. Normally, if our job is done correctly, our clients will walk out of the funeral service in

better condition than when they came in to meet with us a few days prior.”

What Smith is describing is part of his daily job, meeting with clients. Both of the Smith

brothers meet with the family members of the deceased and go over how they would like their

services to run. They work as counselors, in a way, talking through the process and helping to

ease the ache.

“Many people say ‘funerals are for the living,’” Smith said. “Funerals really are for the

living. It’s a way to cope, that last chance to say goodbye. Our job is to make sure everything is

run so smoothly that they don’t even know we’re there. By the time they come back for their

family member’s service, everything is put in place. I design the flower arrangements, set up

the pictures, make sure there is enough room to sit and talk. Whatever they want, I do my

absolute best to make happen. I treat everyone like they are a member of my own family and I

never lose sight of that.”

Smith is able to form close bonds with his clients. In 1981, one of the bonds changed his

life forever, when he met his wife, Phyllis, directing her mother’s funeral. As Smith helped her

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through the process, the two formed an instant connection and eventually married in April of

1983 before having their three Emily, 28, Neal, 25, and Abby, 20.

“I am able to have a greater respect for Brad’s work because I know the outcome of it,”

Smith, 60, explained of her husband. “It’s a very devastating experience and he has a way of

making it seem a little less devastating. He’s not a counselor, per say, but his work is pretty

similar.”

Though large portions of his job are spent aside from working with clients and preparing

bodies, as he must get, complete, and file death certificates, retrieve bodies from the locations

of death, write obituaries, contact priests, florists hairdressers, etc. for funeral needs, and keep

up with the property sight, Smith explains how the strong emphasis of emotion in a motion

plays a large part in his life and how he sees the world.

“Being surrounded by death all of the time, I’m able to appreciate life more,” Smith said.

“I don’t hold grudges and I try to be as accepting and forgiving as possible because I’ve seen the

worst of the worst. I want to live a life I’m proud and make sure my family knows I love them. I

always wonder while I’m preparing for a funeral if the person had any last regrets and I want to

live my life in hopes that I won’t have any.

Though Smith described funerals as being for the living, a large part of his work is done

with the dead. When first contacted, which can be any time of the day, often interfering with

his personal life, Smith, or one of his co-workers, must retrieve the body from the sight of

death, the hospital, nursing home, or their home. Normally the bodies show up in normal

condition, but Smith explains a scenario that is becoming more and more common today, as he

guesses every one-in-ten people—the condition of organ donor’s bodies.

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“When I first started in the business, we never really saw this,” Smith said, as he began

to walk down the stairs of the funeral home, noticeably more serious than before. “I do think

it’s a good thing, if other people can be helped, why not? It makes the job of embalming and

preparing a body much different, though.”

Smith went on to explain how the body is brought to them after Core Tissue Recovery

takes the necessary parts of the body, which includes a large amount of skin on the back and

the removal of bones in the leg that are replaced by piping and not fully reclosed.

“It’s not easy to see,” Smith said, readjusting his glasses, appearing to become a bit

uncomfortable. “Before dressing the body, we have to put it in a plastic-like suit so it doesn’t

leak. It takes extra work to make sure the family sees their loved one in the condition they are

expecting.”

The preparing and storing of bodies before the time of the funeral service happens in

the basement of the Smith Funeral Home. The chilly basement holds a casket room, which

bodies are stored after being embalmed and prepared, a cremator, and a mortuary room.

“The cool temperature and open space of the basement was one of our deciding factors

on making this our location,” Smith said, as he covered up the pale body of a woman who lay

elevated on the metal table of the chemical scented mortuary room, filled with medical tools.

“It’s necessary to the sanitation of our business.”

Embalming and preparing the bodies is a skill that only Smith and his brother are able to

perform. The process is done through a serious of medical procedures that sanitizes, restores,

and preserves a body to the best of their ability. It’s often on of the hardest parts of the job, in

Smith’s opinion.

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“Since we live in such a small area, I know a large portion of the people I am working

on,” Smith said. “It makes it pretty tough, but at the same time, I’m able to treat them with care

and respect, giving them one last gift.”

Smith gives as much as he can to his clients, meeting their needs to the best of his

ability. Smith Funeral Home is nicely decorated, clean, and comfortable. There is a “memory

case” in the room aside from the viewing room where pictures are set up and on display for

visitors to remember good times of the deceased. Smith explained something that he did a few

weeks ago that he’s never seen done in his long history of funerals.

“I actually skyped a funeral to family members in Texas that weren’t able to make the

service,” Smith said as a smile returned to his face. “Everybody gathered around and talked

with them. They said they felt like they were able to be there and it was really neat to be able

to make that happen for them.”

It’s little things like that, Smith explained, that make his job worthwhile. Though there

are many downsides to his out of the ordinary career, Smith also gets satisfaction knowing that

he is making lasting a difference in peoples’ lives.

“Sure I work long hours, I get woken up in the middle of the night, I can’t tell you the

last time I had a Saturday or Sunday off, and I’m often stressed and overwhelmed with the

pressure of trying to meet people’s needs, but my work is serious, it’s where I need to be,”

Smith said. “I feel privileged that people trust their needs to my care.”

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Sources

Primary:

Brad Smith, Smith Funeral Home co-owner

and director, (724) 674 – 1157,

basmith@zoominternet.net

Secondary:

(Phone interview) Craig Smith, co-owner and director of Smith Funeral Home,

(724) 674 – 1449

(Phone interview) Phyllis Smith, wife of Brad Smith/retired, (724) 290 – 7165

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