Certification

It should come as no surprise that in order to become a mortician in today's world you need to become certified and hold state permits in the state that you're working in. And chances are, that in order to obtain said permits, you need to go to an accredited mortuary science college. It wasn't always this way though, many many many years ago if you wanted to become a mortician all you had to do was go to your local funeral home and see if they could use an apprentice and after a few years of learning your craft, BOOM, you became a bonafide mortician.

I really wish that was the way it still was because when you boil down what you learn in school verses what you learn as an apprentice, going to school almost seems like a waste of time and money. I say that because as an apprentice I start work right away learning how to embalm and do a multitude of things. Once I can start taking my technical studies chances are very high that I will experience little to no lab time learning my craft, and that is mostly due to the lack of cadavers which is ironic when you think about it.

Milwaukee obviously has a lot of homeless people, when said homeless people unfortunately die most of the time their bodies go unclaimed by loved ones. So what is the county morgue suppose to do with all these unclaimed dead? Well you would think that they would donate them to the local medical schools and the mortuary science program at MATC, but there is a lot of red tape involved in this. At this point in time I honestly do not know what Milwaukee county does with their unclaimed dead but I would think that is is logical to assume that they follow a process very similar to the one that was documented in the A Certain Kind Of Death documentary. This documentary follows the bodies of three unclaimed dead people in L.A. county California. I highly recommend watching this 70 minute documentary if you are at all interested in the death process of the unclaimed dead, just be forewarned that it does get a bit graphic in some areas. You can watch it on YouTube here.

In the state of Wisconsin if you want to become an apprenticed mortician you need to have 30 college credits (aka Sophomore standing). These 30 credits can be in anything...case in point my two bachelor degrees in theater and arts management go above and beyond my required 30 credits.

Once I applied and accepted a position at a local funeral home I had to apply for my state apprentice permit. The form was very simple and I had to include my official transcripts from UWSP along with a $10 application permit fee.  

My Apprentice Permit

You will notice that come 12/31/14 I will need to renew my license as an apprentice and I have only 4 years until I have to appear before the state examining board to take my state exam. By then I will have graduated from my program and will have learned a lot about becoming a mortician. 

While I was obtaining my apprentice permit I was also busy becoming an ordained minister. That's right folks, you heard it here first. Jordy Death is now an ordained minister through the Universal Life Church Monastery. 

Ministry Credentials

Apparently becoming ordained online freaks my mother out. I didn't have to attend any classes or churches, I just Googled how to become an ordained minister and BOOM, there you go. Of course I had to pay for my credentials but that was really all that there was to it. I decided to become ordained so that I could preside over funerals if needed. Most of the time if someone dies who was religious or requested a religious service we, as funeral directors, contact the pastor/priest/minister that the family wants. There are the few times where the family will ask if we, the funeral director, could just preside over the ceremony and say a few words, this is where I would have the ability to step in. 

Baker's Funeral Handbook

This funeral handbook is very useful for when the time calls upon me to do the full funeral service. It has nine denominational funeral and memorial services, as well as special situation funeral and memorial services and graveside committal services. 

Since I am ordained I can also marry, baptize, absolved people of their sins, the whole Holy nine yards so to speak. Will I be doing that? Chances are probably no, but I will always be more than happy to share the Word of God to those who want and need to hear it, and listen to the troubles and worries of others. 

So that is my story for today. I officially leave my retail job this Saturday and will officially begin at the funeral home next Monday. This Thursday however, I will be able to go in and help work a funeral, mainly just greeting people, but we all gotta start some where right? 

My hope is to document my first few days at the home, so be sure to look out for my next blog!

Until next time!