Job lot: The funeral director

By TIM WATKIN

Simon McKenzie, 42, is a funeral director at Watney Sibun's. He lives in Remuera and is married with two children, aged 14 and 18. A funeral director in a major city earns around $60,000 a year.

Tell me why you became a funeral director.

A mild interest from the mid-teens, I guess. I remember inquiring once or twice, just after I left school. I was intrigued. But it wasn't until five years after that that I had the opportunity to break into it.

Being a family industry, as it has traditionally been, it's only in latter years where some of the old established companies have grown to the point where they can employ a good swag of staff.

My break was with a big company in Christchurch. It was merely an advert in the paper, which was rare. Especially then, a lot of training was in-house, and you were taught well. Latterly, CIT have opened their doors for education in both funeral directing and embalming.

Many people would see it as a gloomy job. Is it?

I never thought of it as gloomy. Always thought of it as a very important industry to be involved in. The important side is being able to help people at that difficult time.

What skills do you need?

I maintain it's one of those jobs where the face has to fit. Obviously, you need the ability to communicate, be a good listener and have a good memory. Sympathy and empathy are very important in relating to the family and, ultimately, catering to their needs. These days, when people are becoming more aware of what they want, you've got to be very flexible.

Has the business changed a lot from the days of severe Dickensian men in dark suits and top hats?

It's grown into a very reputable industry from the stereotype of 50 or 100 years ago. Our personalities are far more appropriate to the industry. But we do have our tails. We do wear the proper garb: the waistcoat, long tails, striped trousers. There is still tradition in the industry.

It was an industry where people chose it as a vocation and that was it. And that wasn't just the family. They had very loyal staff as well. That has changed a bit.

Do you do your own embalming?

Yes that's all part of it. You need to embalm, but you may not be experienced enough to embalm entirely, but you can perhaps do some of that kind of work.

There's a bit of chemistry involved. You've got to know your products and how they'll react to different skin colours, or people, even to the drugs administered before death.

The good news is that with modern technology it's enabled us to be quite flexible with family needs.

If there's family coming from overseas, say, we can ensure that the person will remain in good order until the day [of the funeral]. Twenty years ago the funeral couldn't be delayed more than a few days.

Do you develop a rather black sense of humour in your job?

Well, everyone in the business has a good sense of humour. You need to be able to have a banter as a release. It's very healthy to do that. Obviously we are not completely rigid. But we're not completely stupid either.

Why aren't you called undertakers anymore?

It's been out of vogue as long as I've known. It's considered an old-fashioned term.

Undertaker was used because the job was to undertake a good service.

It wasn't really a term of employment, but what you did. So the term funeral director perhaps gives a better insight into the work you do.