Trade Secrets - Albery and Redstone Funeral Directors
David Albery, of Albery and Redstone Funeral Directors, kindly answered our questions about life as a funeral director in our Nov/Dec issue of Oke Links.
• Where are you based and how long have you been in business?
We are based in Okehampton. The business was founded in 1850 in South Zeal, and we moved to its current location in East Street in 2014.
• Can you explain about your name? Is this a partnership?
In 2015 I, David Albery, purchased the long established family funeral business of Redstone Funeral Services, to run along side my already established Independent company ‘Okehampton & District Funeral Service’, to which we became ‘Incorporating Redstones’. I decided to re-brand the company to reinforce the fact we are a truly Independent family owned and run company, so the decision was made to put the names together - ‘Albery & Redstone’. We are proud to be the only Independent Family Funeral Service in Okehampton. So it is not a partnership; I am a sole trader.
• Can you describe a typical day?
In this profession there is no typical day. Each day is different, each family special and unique with their own individual requirements.
• People would assume your job is quite sad dealing with death. Is this a harsh description?
This is a very common assumption. Indeed we look after the departed, and care for the bereaved at their most desperate hour, but our time is taken up most with caring for those left behind, and each day is a privilege. I am always very humbled when a family entrust their loved one into my care. It is a great duty and an honour, but it isn’t all sadness. Yes there are sad times, and tragic times, you must always have empathy to their needs, but there is also so much love, laughter and also celebration for a life lived long and well.
• Being able to fulfil a family’s request to lay their loved one to rest must be rewarding as well. Is that true?
This has to be in my opinion one of the most rewarding professions; to be able to do the last thing I can do for someone is a unique privilege. It is always so wonderful to receive a thank you card from a family in the midst of what they are going through. They will remember what I have done for them forever. We play a very special part in their lives for a short space of time, and I will do whatever I can to make it as easy as possible for them.
• Have there been any examples of requests that have been unique? Buried with anything unique for example.
Funerals can take many forms these days, from the very traditional to the most alternative. Providing it is legal and dignified, we are only limited by our imagination. Just the other day we took a gentleman to church in an immaculate vintage 1965 Moggy Traveller Hearse; we hired this in at the request of the family. I have also conducted services where the coffin has been conveyed to church by tractor and trailer, horse and carriage, VW Campervan Hearse to name but a few. I have conducted funeral services in families' gardens, followed by burial on their own land, held ceremonies in barns, farm buildings and in ‘Woodland burial grounds’.
• How long do you have to train to become a funeral director?
No amount of theoretical training will totally prepare you to be a funeral director, it comes down to years of dedicated practical service to the profession. Also life experiences mould and shape you along the way. I have had the privilege of being in the funeral profession for 25 years, and I am still learning. As the years go on, the profession changes, and you need to adapt to meet the expectations of our clients today. This is a vocation, it is a way of life. It certainly would not suit everybody, being on call 24/7, getting called out of bed to attend a loved one a 3am, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I love what I do.