A
Funeral Director: FD, LFD, CFSP, FD&E, Mortuary College graduate (also known as a
mortician or
undertaker) is a professional involved in the business of
funeralA funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. These customs vary widely between cultures, and...
rites. These tasks often entail the
embalmingEmbalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus sanitization, presentation and preservation of a dead body to achieve this effect...
and
burialBurial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
or
cremationCremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....
of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony. FD's may at times be asked to perform tasks such as dressing (in garments usually suitable for daily wear) casketing (placing the human body in the container) and customizing (applying any sort of cosmetic or substance to the viewable areas of the person for the purpose of enhancing appearances.
Morticians have expanded further and have encroached on what used to be seen as the job of the clergy.
A
Funeral Director: FD, LFD, CFSP, FD&E, Mortuary College graduate (also known as a
mortician or
undertaker) is a professional involved in the business of
funeralA funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honour. These customs vary widely between cultures, and...
rites. These tasks often entail the
embalmingEmbalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus sanitization, presentation and preservation of a dead body to achieve this effect...
and
burialBurial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...
or
cremationCremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....
of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony. FD's may at times be asked to perform tasks such as dressing (in garments usually suitable for daily wear) casketing (placing the human body in the container) and customizing (applying any sort of cosmetic or substance to the viewable areas of the person for the purpose of enhancing appearances.
The role of a funeral director
Morticians have expanded further and have encroached on what used to be seen as the job of the clergy. Their job gradually grew to include more intensive involvement funeral service (rather than mere organization), and hiring ministers for families without church membership. They also worked at transferring the location of the funeral from the church to the funeral home, because there they could establish clear authority over the funeral service.
Most modern day funeral homes are run as family businesses. The majority of morticians work in these small, family-run funeral homes. The owner usually hires two or three other morticians to help him. Often, this hired help is in the family, perpetuating the family's ownership. Most funeral homes have one or more viewing rooms, a preparation room for embalming, a chapel, and a casket-selection room. They usually have a
hearseA hearse is a funeral vehicle, a conveyance for the casket from e.g. a church to a cemetery, a similar burial site, or a crematorium. In the funeral trade, they are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
for transportation of bodies, a flower car, and limousines. They also normally have choices of caskets and urns for families to purchase or rent.
Evolution of the industry is continuing today. While most funeral homes are still operated by families, larger and more centralized organizations are coming to prominence. This shift towards larger and less personal organizations can largely be attributed to changing societal views toward the death process, such as the institutionalization of death.
Organizations and licensing
In the UK many funeral directors belong to one of four professional organizations, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), the British Institute of Funeral Directors (BIFD), the Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF) or National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA). The principal United States professional organizations in the field are the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association and the National Funeral Directors Association. The American Board of Funeral Service Education provides accreditation to postsecondary educational institutions offering programs in
mortuary scienceMortuary science is the study of dead bodies through mortuary work. Those who study mortuary science usually take up careers as morticians or funeral directors. Many also study embalming to supplement their mortuary science studies. Some states require funeral directors to be embalmers as well...
or funeral services.
In the US, the individual states each have their own licensing regulations for funeral directors. Most require a combination of postsecondary education (typically an
associate's degreeAn associate degree is an academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, four-year universities, business colleges and some bachelor's degree-granting colleges/universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years....
), passage of a National Board Examination
http://www.theconferenceonline.org/students-nbe.shtml, passage of a state board examination, and one to two years' work as an apprentice.
Employment opportunities
Employment opportunities for funeral directors are expected to be good, particularly for those who also embalm. However, mortuary science graduates may have to relocate to find jobs.