The first time I visited Hawaii was in 1988.  I’d been working as a funeral director for about eight years at the time and knew that funeral service in Hawaii was a little bit different than in Minnesota simply because of the oriental and polynesian cultural influences on the customs as well as the, at the time, high cremation rates.  I took one morning and took a city bus to one of the multiple Borthwick Mortuary Chapels in Honolulu and received a really nice tour of the facilities from a colleague.

I just happened to see yesterday an article in Hawaii Business Magazine entitled, “Death is His Life’s Work”.  The article is about 57-year old Charles Clark, who is an embalmer, and has been since a young age in Hawaii.  He talks about his work, how he started, and some unusual instances that have happened in his career. . . something we all can probably relate to.

He also mentions that Hawaii is one of two states — I believe the other is Colorado — where you don’t need a degree to be an embalmer.  Mr. Clark mentions that he became an embalmer by purchasing textbooks and working under an embalmer at one of the Borthwick Mortuaries who was willing to teach him.

Funeral Director Daily take:  I find the article pretty interesting.  Not only do you get a little look into funeral service in paradise but there are some practical things to be learned as well.

Mr. Clark points out that the salary for an apprentice embalmer in Hawaii is between $24,000 to $30,000 and an experienced embalmer can make up to $60,000.  Quite frankly, with the cost of living in Hawaii, I’m not so sure that that amount is enough and I wonder if the islands will have enough embalmers going forward.  However, I also wonder if the salary range is commensurate with how embalmers are perceived in Hawaii.  With no educational requirement – and a 75% cremation rate according to the latest NFDA survey – maybe the general public – and quite possibly the funeral home employers – don’t see the real necessity for highly compensated embalmers.

So, in the end, I really look at this article on more of what is happening with educational requirements and the employment issues in our profession that just an article on what it is like to be an embalmer in Hawaii.  I can understand with high, and ever growing cremation rates that embalming will make less and less of a difference as families choose not to view their loved ones.  However, I just don’t see a drop in educational requirements accompanying this trend if we want to stay relevant.  Our client families will need people schooled in business, hospitality, and physcology in order to properly tend to their needs.[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]