the back burner and are there for the people who are relying on us in their time of need .”
While each of the area ’ s funeral directors stop short of calling themselves heroes , most do point to a period in recent history when it was obvious to them that most of the world was overlooking their specific challenges on the job . That was during the Covid pandemic .
“ The first wall of defense ( during the pandemic ) was the medical people ,” Lange recalled , “ and the funeral directors were the back end of it . I had to suit up and take precautions just like the nurses did when we were taking care of somebody that had Covid . We had dangers too .”
Not only did funeral directors have to take health precautions , but they also were required to set some unfortunate boundaries for grieving families .
“ We were in uncharted territory ,” Stephens said . “ We had no clue what we were doing . Nobody did . All the funeral homes were working together , saying , ‘ What are you all doing about this ?’ We have to deal with the state board , and there were rules to follow .”
Stephens said funeral directors were faced with the task of putting limitations on funeral services , when normally they strive to give families whatever they want or need .
“ It was reversed during Covid ,” she said . “ We were telling them what they were allowed to do . You were allowed to have ten people at the funeral . Only two people were allowed to come in and make arrangements .
That was a hard time to get through . There were people who didn ’ t get to say goodbye at the hospital , and they didn ’ t get to say goodbye at the funeral home either . I still wonder how they ’ re dealing with it .”
“ Nobody ever really thought about all the funeral directors across the whole nation who were having to deal with all the deaths ,” Lange added . “ Not only were we busier than normal , but we were also having crazy extenuating
Chris Lange , funeral director , embalmer and part owner of Lake Cumberland Funeral Home , greets visitors at a recent visitation held at his funeral home .
Photo by Tricia Neal circumstances of trying to put funerals online , having drive-thru visitations , and having to limit the number of people ( who could attend funerals .)”
Hibbard humbly agrees that workers in the funeral business were overlooked during the pandemic .
“ I don ’ t like to toot my own horn , of course , and I don ’ t want to take anything away from the police , fire , EMS , or health care workers , but we were also first line workers who never got mentioned ,” he said .
It ’ s the nature of the job , however , to * not * receive recognition – whether the world is in a pandemic or not . Funeral home workers willingly take a back seat to grieving families on a regular basis . “ We always try to not stand in the limelight , because obviously what ’ s important during this time is for a family to remember their loved one ,” Hibbard said . “ We kind of stay in the back , but we also make sure that we ’ re available to support the family .”
Many times , funeral directors assist families in spite of their own physical and emotional fatigue .
“ There are a lot of hours that go into each death call ,” said Bruce Phelps , manager and co-owner of Pulaski Funeral Home . “ I might have five funerals scheduled in five days , and I may be exhausted , but when that next call comes in , that family that we are talking to isn ’ t concerned about how busy we ’ ve been . They aren ’ t concerned about how tired we are , and we can ’ t be concerned about all that either . They are the priority , because they ’ ve
8 Commonwealth Journal - Unsung Heroes - 2024