What is an Undertaker? An Interview with Patrick McNally: Part One

Today, SevenPonds is speaking with Patrick McNally, the outspoken and creative  funeral director behind the blog The Daily Undertaker, which explores ritual and art surrounding death and dying. In this first installment of our interview, Patrick reveals his honest insight into the funeral industry and discusses how he sees end-of-life ritual evolving in meaningful ways.

Aurora: Patrick, could you tell us a little about your background in the funeral industry, your funeral home and what sets it apart?

Patrick: I went into the funeral business about 15 years ago, as a kind of calling.  I was looking for a career with meaning and opportunities to serve.  Although my great grandfather was an undertaker in the late 1800’s in rural Iowa, I have no other family connection to the funeral business, and have worked as an apprentice and a director.  Currently, I work as a funeral director and embalmer at Daniels Chapel of the Roses in Santa Rosa, California.

What sets my service apart from others is a commitment to quality  and responsiveness to the individual needs of each family we serve.  This, I think, is the most important part of being an undertaker.  It is not what kind of merchandise you offer, the grandeur of your facilities, or your level of technological capabilities, though these all have a place in funeral service.  What is essential, and what all else stems from, is listening and engaging with the families you work with, and then responding to what they need in a caring, creative and open-minded way.

Aurora: As a funeral director, what direction do you see the funeral industry moving towards, presently and in the future?

Patrick: I see wonderful things happening on the fringes in the industry.  The green burial movement is exciting and relevant.  It offers many opportunities for families to be involved in meaningful ways, both in rituals and in the physical actions necessary to bring their loved one to their place of rest.  I see a lot of potential in the home funeral movement too. Taking ownership of caring for our dead is a very positive step not only for end-of-life rituals, but for our culture as a whole.  We really need to stop avoiding and denying death in order to live more fully.  I see the rise of celebrants crafting new rituals and leading more relevant services.  I see technological advances that make it much easier to increase the quality of production values in small-scale operations.

However, the funeral industry itself is heading for a crisis of relevance.  All too often we have failed to take the time to make a meaningful personal connection to the families we serve.  We have streamlined the process of funerals to the point that we are more concerned with following our own rules than responding to, or even hearing, what the families are asking for.  We have in many cases lost the art of preparing the person who has died to be viewed in ways that make them recognizable to their families, and have done a horrible job of explaining the value of the good work that we actually do perform.  As the death rate begins to rise with the end of the baby boomer generation, many funeral businesses will have enough work to keep busy, even with the rise of cremation.  However, if as an industry, we do not rise to the task of meeting the changing needs of our families, rather than selling them what is convenient for us to sell, we may not exist at all 50 years from now.

Aurora: Well said, Patrick. What inspired you to start writing The Daily Undertaker?

Patrick: In 2008, I attended the Cremation Association of North America conference in Montreal, and was exposed to many exciting people and ideas.  Specifically, I got to meet Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, the founder and creator of the Promession process, a wonderful new way to return the dead to the earth in a positive way.  This method involves flash freezing remains, and the gentle breakdown of the body so that it returns to the earth in a nourishing way, rather than rotting.  This inspiration, along with others, was something I wanted to share because I see a great value and potential in funerals when they are done well.  I wanted to communicate this value and share the innovations and meaningful rituals that I have come across.  My hope is to inspire consumers to demand more, and inspire funeral homes to provide more meaningful services.

Read Part Two next week!