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Emma Cox
While the majority of Americans spend their lives working jobs that many would deem
normal, like filing paperwork in a cubical, being a nurse, or teaching a classroomof students,
Brad Smith works with the dead on a day-to-day basis. The 59-year-old Mercer County man
starts his day off like any other person, taking his dog for a walk around the block, checking his
emails, watching the news, and grabbing a cup of coffee at the local Dunkin’ Donuts; It’s where
Smith begins his work day that is exceedingly out of the ordinary—a funeral home.
Being fully aware of the uniqueness of his career, Smith believes that it takes a special
person to hold such positions. To him, it isn’t the often challenging work that makes the job,
it’s the payoff.
“My job isn’t about fun,” Smith said, as he began to cover the blemishes on a recently
deceased, elderly woman’s face, as she lay still in a casket. “My job is rewarding and
meaningful. I do enjoy it, though, in a way most people wouldn’t be able to understand. It
surely can’t be done by everyone.”
Smith is the current owner and co-director of the Smith Funeral Home in Slippery Rock
with his brother Craig. Having the only funeral home in the area, Smith meets a variety of
people and holds a reputation of respect and trustworthiness within the community. He works
alongside his brother, making sure his family name is represented with pride.
“Working with my brother is a great experience,” Smith, 62, said. “The way we were
raised and our understanding of what we expect as business partners is what makes us

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successful. I give hima lot of credit for that, too. He’s extremely caring and trustworthy and
that’s important.”
For Smith, being a funeral director is not out of the ordinary in his family, it’s a way of
life. He comes from a line of funeral home directors and owners, making him a fifth generation
director. The Smiths grew up in Leesburg, PA, under a long line of funeral home directors,
dating back to 1848, with his grandfather’s grandfather.
“I grew up in funeral homes,” Smith explained thoroughly, brushing a smudge of
cosmetic makeup off the sleeve of his brown, clean, professional suit. “I was able to see how
everything worked and I think that’s important in truly understanding this job. I wasn’t exposed
to things like the mortuary room or any pre-cosmetic bodies as a young child; I think that’s
important to know. But I was able to see what goes into this job, how to care for individuals
that are grieving and making sure that everything played out the way they wanted. Seeing the
results of the work is what made me want to get into it myself, in the first place. Most of the
people I talk to in my line of work come from a family in the business. Without the background
knowledge, I don’t see anyone choosing this career.”
Though Smith was aware of what it took to work as a funeral director, as he’d seen it in
his family, he had to take the educational steps in getting his license to pursue the career. He
explained that an associate’s degree, two years of mortuary school, and a 12 month internship.
After getting a degree in economics, graduating from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary
Science, completing his internship at his mother’s funeral home, the Grace Cunningham Smith
Funeral Home in Leesburg, and passing the state licensing exam, Smith was given his funeral

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director license in 1977, one year after his brother. The two opened Smith Funeral Home three
years late in 1980.
“Originally, we wanted to branch off and move,” Smith said. “But after meeting so many
people through our family businesses, we knew that we wanted to stay close and work for
people that we cared for, people who could trust us. I don’t think our business would be as
successful in a big city. It’s important to know these people and help them cope. They are
coming to us, often at their lowest points, and we want to make sure everything runs smoothly
for them. Normally, if our job is done correctly, our clients will walk out of the funeral service in
better condition than when they came in to meet with us a few days prior.”
What Smith is describing is part of his daily job, meeting with clients. Both of the Smith
brothers meet with the family members of the deceased and go over how they would like their
services to run. They work as counselors, in a way, talking through the process and helping to
ease the ache.
“Many people say ‘funerals are for the living,’” Smith said. “Funerals really are for the
living. It’s a way to cope, that last chance to say goodbye. Our job is to make sure everything is
run so smoothly that they don’t even know we’re there. By the time they come back for their
family member’s service, everything is put in place. I design the flower arrangements, set up
the pictures, make sure there is enough room to sit and talk. Whatever they want, I do my
absolute best to make happen. I treat everyone like they are a member of my own family and I
never lose sight of that.”
Smith is able to form close bonds with his clients. In 1981, one of the bonds changed his
life forever, when he met his wife, Phyllis, directing her mother’s funeral. As Smith helped her

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through the process, the two formed an instant connection and eventually married in April of
1983 before having their three Emily, 28, Neal, 25, and Abby, 20.
“I am able to have a greater respect for Brad’s work because I know the outcome of it,”
Smith, 60, explained of her husband. “It’s a very devastating experience and he has a way of
making it seema little less devastating. He’s not a counselor, per say, but his work is pretty
similar.”
Though large portions of his job are spent aside from working with clients and preparing
bodies, as he must get, complete, and file death certificates, retrieve bodies from the locations
of death, write obituaries, contact priests, florists hairdressers, etc. for funeral needs, and keep
up with the property sight, Smith explains how the strong emphasis of emotion in a motion
plays a large part in his life and how he sees the world.
“Being surrounded by death all of the time, I’m able to appreciate life more,” Smith said.
“I don’t hold grudges and I try to be as accepting and forgiving as possible because I’ve seen the
worst of the worst. I want to live a life I’m proud and make sure my family knows I love them. I
always wonder while I’m preparing for a funeral if the person had any last regrets and I want to
live my life in hopes that I won’t have any.
Though Smith described funerals as being for the living, a large part of his work is done
with the dead. When first contacted, which can be any time of the day, often interfering with
his personal life, Smith, or one of his co-workers, must retrieve the body from the sight of
death, the hospital, nursing home, or their home. Normally the bodies show up in normal
condition, but Smith explains a scenario that is becoming more and more common today, as he
guesses every one-in-ten people—the condition of organ donor’s bodies.

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“When I first started in the business, we never really saw this,” Smith said, as he began
to walk down the stairs of the funeral home, noticeably more serious than before. “I do think
it’s a good thing, if other people can be helped, why not? It makes the job of embalming and
preparing a body much different, though.”
Smith went on to explain how the body is brought to them after Core Tissue Recovery
takes the necessary parts of the body, which includes a large amount of skin on the back and
the removal of bones in the leg that are replaced by piping and not fully reclosed.
“It’s not easy to see,” Smith said, readjusting his glasses, appearing to become a bit
uncomfortable. “Before dressing the body, we have to put it in a plastic-like suit so it doesn’t
leak. It takes extra work to make sure the family sees their loved one in the condition they are
expecting.”
The preparing and storing of bodies before the time of the funeral service happens in
the basement of the Smith Funeral Home. The chilly basement holds a casket room, which
bodies are stored after being embalmed and prepared, a cremator, and a mortuary room.
“The cool temperature and open space of the basement was one of our deciding factors
on making this our location,” Smith said, as he covered up the pale body of a woman who lay
elevated on the metal table of the chemical scented mortuary room, filled with medical tools.
“It’s necessary to the sanitation of our business.”
Embalming and preparing the bodies is a skill that only Smith and his brother are able to
perform. The process is done through a serious of medical procedures that sanitizes, restores,
and preserves a body to the best of their ability. It’s often on of the hardest parts of the job, in
Smith’s opinion.

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“Since we live in such a small area, I know a large portion of the people I am working
on,” Smith said. “It makes it pretty tough, but at the same time, I’m able to treat them with care
and respect, giving them one last gift.”
Smith gives as much as he can to his clients, meeting their needs to the best of his
ability. Smith Funeral Home is nicely decorated, clean, and comfortable. There is a “memory
case” in the room aside from the viewing room where pictures are set up and on display for
visitors to remember good times of the deceased. Smith explained something that he did a few
weeks ago that he’s never seen done in his long history of funerals.
“I actually skyped a funeral to family members in Texas that weren’t able to make the
service,” Smith said as a smile returned to his face. “Everybody gathered around and talked
with them. They said they felt like they were able to be there and it was really neat to be able
to make that happen for them.”
It’s little things like that, Smith explained, that make his job worthwhile. Though there
are many downsides to his out of the ordinary career, Smith also gets satisfaction knowing that
he is making lasting a difference in peoples’ lives.
“Sure I work long hours, I get woken up in the middle of the night, I can’t tell you the
last time I had a Saturday or Sunday off, and I’m often stressed and overwhelmed with the
pressure of trying to meet people’s needs, but my work is serious, it’s where I need to be,”
Smith said. “I feel privileged that people trust their needs to my care.”

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Sources
Primary:
Brad Smith, Smith Funeral Home co-owner and director,
(724) 674 – 1157, basmith@zoominternet.net
Secondary:
 (Phone interview) Craig Smith, co-owner and director of Smith Funeral Home,
(724) 674 – 1449
 (Phone interview) Phyllis Smith, wife of Brad Smith/retired, (724) 290 – 7165