http://my.hsj.org http://my.hsj.org en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sat, 25 May 2013 22:36:52 GMT 15 By Holly Given
Rarely can a student can say their English teacher was a mortician. However, upperclassmen at Pikesville High School can! Mr. Steve Williams, the long-term substitute for Mrs. Sara Reisner’s junior and senior English classes, has not only worked as a teacher, but he has spent time working as a funeral director as well. Although Mr. Williams taught at many different schools, including Goucher College and Owings Mills High School, after the 1980s’ federal mandates made many changes in schools. Mr. Williams then needed to find a job that was more recession proof. “Because of a change in the economy, President Reagan and Present George H.W. Bush decided we didn’t need as much physical education in schools. I decided to be a mortician while I was still teaching,” Mr. Williams said. Mr. Williams has a lot of experience in undertaking, and therefore has multiple stories to share about the job. “I worked many places as a mortician,” Mr. Williams said. “I worked for McCulley Funeral Homes, Kaufman Funeral Homes, The Cremation and Funeral Alternatives Group, and The Maryland Cremation Society.” Everyday, Mr. Williams would get to work and see if any calls came in during the night. He had the responsibility of making arrangements with the families, which included bringing the bodies to the funeral home to be embalmed, ordering cars, ordering flowers and ensuring that night staff was available. “While you are dealing with the families, you have to remember that although we do this everyday, they do not,” Mr. Williams explained. Although being “the last person to let someone down" may not be a job that people would think of as being pleasant, Mr. Williams feels that helping the community is important and this is the reason why he enjoys his jobs so much. “You provide a service to the families as a mortician and to students as a teacher,” Mr. Williams said. While Mr. Williams and his fellow employees were able to look at the brighter side of the situation and maintain a sense of humor most of the time, Mr. Williams had many experiences as a mortician that were not always pleasant. “The worst experience I ever had was when I was aware that a woman who was coming to her father’s funeral had a warrant against her, and that the cops were waiting inside for her when she came to the funeral home,” Mr. Williams said. Mr. Williams has not only had some unpleasant experiences, he has had some peculiar ones as well. “My weirdest experience was when a lady wanted me to put her mother’s body in the back of her pickup truck so she could bring her to Georgia to be buried,” Mr. Williams said. After all of his experiences, Mr. Williams can debunk a few myths about the dead and funeral homes. “People believe what they believe,” Mr. Williams said, “But, regarding the myth that people sit up after they’re dead, I’ve never seen anyone sit up before. And yes, I do believe all funeral homes are haunted, but not necessarily by bad spirits.” ]]> Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:57:48 GMT