THE FUNERAL HOME

When Adam Glenn was 7 years old, he discovered that his favorite uncle was a funeral director. He wasn't quite sure what that meant at the time, but he knew he had to do it.

Now 13 years later, Glenn is learning firsthand what his dream job is all about at Redmon Funeral Home in Stow.

"When people asked me what I wanted to do, that's what I told them," he says. "My second grade teacher sort of looked at me a little weird.

"I thought about doing other things but always came back to this," Glenn says.

Glenn has worked at the funeral home for almost two years while also attending Kent State. He needs to complete 60 credit hours of liberal education requirements for admission to the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science.

"Basically, I do anything from washing the cars to mowing the lawn," he says. "I drive the hearse for funerals, work the parking lot and am on call Mondays and Wednesdays, then every other weekend."

Glenn has to be prepared to pick up a body at any time during the night or day. Even in these late-night calls, Glenn must look presentable. Then, with the funeral home's van, he goes to the hospital, home or morgue for the body. He goes in with a cot, picks up the body and signs the necessary paperwork, Glenn says. Some nights he is able to sleep soundly, others he may receive two or three calls.

Glenn says these late night calls don't disrupt his life too much. "Sometimes you're sleeping so good, and then the phone is ringing, and it's like, 'Man, I know what that is,'" he says. "But you just do it. There's good and bad stuff with any job. It's not really that bad. I don't mind it," he says.

Glenn has always been comfortable with the idea of death. In fact, he doesn't even remember the first time he had to deal with a body.

"That was over a year and a half ago," he says. "If I had done it only two or three times, I'd remember. But I've done this hundreds of times." Glenn says the only time the job gets to him is when he is faced with the deaths of young people or parents who leave young children behind.

Though dealing with death every day, Glenn says he is not afraid of his own mortality.

"Am I scared of dying? No, not at all," he says. "I never have been. It's a lot of people's biggest fear, but not mine."

While working at Redmon Funeral Home, Glenn observes many aspects of the field he otherwise would not experience until mortuary school.

For example, embalming is one experience Glenn does remember.

"I got sick to my stomach," he says. "I had to go outside and catch my breath. After I got a breath of fresh air I was fine."

But this hasn't deterred him from pursuing a career as a funeral director and an embalmer.

"Part of the process made me sick," he says. "I figure it's just normal when you see something like that, especially when you start thinking about your lunch or something."

Glenn has also dealt with family members of the deceased. But during pick-ups, Glenn has little contact with anyone.

"I just don't look at anybody, try not to make eye contact," he says. At the funeral home, Glenn deals with people more intimately, especially during calling hours. He has learned to be there for guidance and support instead of sympathizing with the families.

Glenn is used to people's reactions when he tells them about his job. "A lot of it happens in class introductions," he says. "I'm like, 'Yes, I work for a funeral home and want to be a funeral director.' This is Adam. He's a weirdo. But I'm not embarrassed by it or anything."

Though every workday involves incidents that are far from appealing to most students, Glenn says, "There are a lot of jobs that involve sitting behind a desk in a cubicle with no windows." That kind of life is far from Glenn's ideal.

After finishing 3 1/2 years of schooling at both Kent State and CCMS, Glenn hopes to complete an apprenticeship and then receive licenses to practice both as a funeral director and embalmer. His dream is to then return to Stow and continue working at Redmon Funeral Home.

~ by Jennifer Kovacs