Directors Insight Magazine (Fall 2016)

DIRECTOR’S INSIGHTWWW.DIRECTORSINSIGHTMAG.COM | FALL 2016 | ISSUE 10 MAGAZINE National2016NFMDA Convention Kelley Law Firm Recap - Page 10DIGNITY IN DEATH FOR FUNERAL HOME OWNER INSIDE PORTLAND’S BROOKS FUNERAL HOMEBLACK FAMILIES AT A ADRIANA HARRISON GANG WORLD: THE Page - 16BROOKLYN FUNERAL HOME DIES OF CANCER FUNERAL HOMEPage - 4 Page - 20 Page - 8

contents07Make your lastride count in thenew MaseratiHearse11 Kelley Law 09 Inside Firm Recap: Portland’s 2016 NFMDA Gang World: National The Funeral Convention Home 16 For 75 years21 Harrison families have brought thier loved Funeral Home ones to the Brooks Funeral Home announces Scholarship Winners 22 Chicago FuneralFuneral Home Feature Homes face Harris Funeral Home challenges in gang territory Funeral Director - Jeffery Harris Page - 122PAGE

Longtime Knoxville businessman to be honored with street renaming, dedication LONGTIME BUSINESSMAN AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATE BEAL BOURNE WILL HAVE AN EAST KNOXVILLE STREET NAMED IN HIS HONOR.K noxville officials will dedicate Milligan Street, between Magnolia and Martin Luther King Jr. avenues, after the longtime funeral director of Jarnigan & Son Mortuary at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Jarnigan & Son Mortuary, founded in 1886 by Clem Jarnigan, is believed to be the city’s oldest black-owned business. Originally from Virginia, Bourne graduated from the University of Maryland and found an interest in the funeral business after his father died. He decided to pursue a career as a funeral director and licensed mortician. “Beal is an energetic individual who believes in the Knoxville community and does whatever he can to help people achieve their dreams, often going out of his way to serve people in need,” the Rev. Harold Middlebrook, a legendary civil-rights and community leader and longtime friend of Bourne, said in a statement. Middlebrook petitioned the city to rename the street in Bourne’s honor, something City Council members approved in June. Bourne moved to Knoxville in 1973 and is a member of the C.C. Russell Masonic Lodge, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission. Bourne called the renaming “an honor” in a statement, and added: “In my line of work, you always hear people say that they wished they had told someone how they felt when they were alive; I’m happy that people thought enough of me and appreciated my work in the community to have a street named for me while I am still here to enjoy it.” 3PAGE

DIGNITY IN DEATH FOR BLACK FAMILIES AT A BROOKLYN FUNERAL HOME“Our society hasbecome immune todeath in the black Before he could even talk, A’manito understand B walnut-brown eyes squintingcommunity. We Miller worked as a model. As in Bedford-Stuyvesant.want people billboards and magazine pages, “Just make him look like himself,” Ms. Shinn early as 2 years old, he graced recalled asking. “I want people to remember him the way he lived, not the way he died.”we have history above a wide smile. Family and friends took Lynda Thompson-Lindsay and Vicki to calling him “Mado,” mimicking the way hisand our lives relatives from the Caribbean said the name Thompson-Simmons have heard such of his profession. So his mother, Allison plaintive appeals before. As the Woodward’smatter.” Shinn, found it a particularly cruel irony managers, the sisters have handled deaths that when Mr. Miller was murdered at 23, his of every sort for families in Brooklyn, nearlyQUOTE BY killer had left him nearly unrecognizable. all of them black. While crime has subsidedMS. THOMPSON-SIMMONS throughout New York City, many of their On March 14, the police found Mr. Miller cases are products of violence. face down in the fifth-floor hallway of a housing complex in the Canarsie section of After death, black bodies in America Brooklyn. Dozens of slashes lacerated his have often been displayed in grotesque torso, and bullets had shattered his skull. and dehumanizing ways — from public Perhaps most unnerving were the twin lynchings to Michael Brown left lying W’s carved into his left cheek and lower for hours on hot pavement in Ferguson, lip, leaving trails of flayed skin along their Mo. The Thompsons seek to reverse that edges. Soon after Ms. Shinn saw her son’s painful legacy: commemorating, honoring corpse, she came to the harsh realization and restoring dignity to members of their that he might have been too disfigured for community upon dying in a way that can an open-coffin funeral. Desperate to provide elude them in life. her son a worthy farewell, she took his body to the Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home 4PAGE

The Thompson sisters belong to a long tradition amid rows of coffins. While the girls were still inof black funeral directors, professionals who elementary school, their father sat them downhold a singular role in their communities. For one evening and made plain the outlinescenturies, these undertakers have handled of their inheritance. “You should both knowthe bodies that their white counterparts would that your mother and I will die one day,” therarely touch, while preserving the mourning sisters recalled him saying. “And you’ll be therituals of homegoing that began to evolve only ones here.” The Thompsons have actedduring the slave trade. as civic leaders in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The sisters proudly point to dozens of plaques andThe Thompson sisters were well schooled in certificates of appreciation from the N.A.A.C.P.,the manners and sober realities of the family the City Council and other organizations.trade. After school, Mr. Thompson would pickup his daughters in a stately black hearse and Ms. Thompson-Lindsay, the older and moredrive them to Woodward to do their homework reticent of the two, specializes in getting bodies ready for viewing, often spending entire days holed up in the frigid and antiseptic preparation room. She recalled once constructing an entire eyelid out of wax for a shooting victim. “That’s called skill,” she said with pride. Ms. Thompson-Simmons mainly deals with the living, shepherding bereaved families through the delicate details of the funeral process. Intuitive and gregarious, she knows just when to offer a handkerchief or coax amemory. We’re talking about generations of trust and tradition. You can’t just sell that. 5PAGE



MAKE YOUR LAST RIDE COUNTIN THIS ULTRA-LUXE MASERATI HEARSEEllena, an Italian hearse T his lovingly converted Maserati reach that velocity. But we’ve seen properspecialist, is offering the Ghibli has been stretched to V8 Maserati wagons before, such as thisworld’s funeral home an incredible 260 inches. By 2009 Maserati Touring Bellagio Fastbackdirectors one seriously comparison, a Chevy Suburban is whipped up by coachbuilding specialistamazing perk to offer the three feet shorter, at 224 inches. Touring Superleggera.dearly departed Buyers might need to make some Maybe this is a better Italian wagon for modifications in order to fulfill their nearly wish-fulfilling speed, since it might 200 mph-trip-to-the-funeral fantasy, actually hit truly insane speeds. And however, because this Ghibli is fitted with of course we’d actually be alive to a 3.0-liter diesel V6 that seems unlikely to appreciate it. 7PAGE

Inside Portland’s gang world:FuneralThe HomeS ince January, Portland gang officers have investigated 81 shootings – about one shooting every three days. In late June, people in two cars were shooting at each other as they drove along Interstate 5 near the Broadway exit. One man, shot in the face, turned out to have been shot once before, in 2013. Think about that: Gunfire on a Portland freeway just before 8 p.m. on a summer night. No suspects, no arrests. But, as usual, the gang team was investigating.The receptionist at the Gresham funeral home led me down a long hallway, this way and that way, before stopping at a small room where families meet to plan services. The man I was coming to see was in his office, on the phone with a family whose loved one had died. So I waited in the room, looked at the things families can order, and wondered what Vincent Jones-Dixon thought about life and death.He works at the Bateman Carroll Funeral Home. Sometimes he helps a family plan the funeral for a son, brother or husband lost to gang violence. He carries with him a painful knowledge of what the family across from him in such a room as this is experiencing. Three years ago, his 21-year-old younger brother, Andreas Jones-Dixon, a Portland gang member, was gunned down in a shooting. His call over, Vincent Jones-Dixon, 27, arrived and closed the door so we could talk privately. For the most part, he explained, he doesn’t share his story or his brother’s story with the people he meets here.Vincent Jones-Dixon is a funeral director at Bateman “I don’t want to put my stuff on them,” he said.Carroll Funeral Home in Gresham. Sometimes he helps a “But if we’re talking and they ask me if I’vefamily plan the funeral for a son, brother or husband lost to experienced gang violence I tell them Igang violence. have. They’re shocked.” He’s never been in a gang.8PAGE

M He wears dress slacks, a collared shirt and a sweater. On his hand, a wedding ring. On this morning, he took his 5-year-old daughter to school, sawhis wife off to work and then came to work himself. He graduated from high school and later from Mount Hood Community College. His younger brother, even though he was a good student who enjoyed math, dropped out of high school, but eventuallyearned his GED. So what happened?“Choices,” said Jones-Dixon. He said he began working in high school. His father died, and Jones- Dixon said he was “the glue of the family” He contributed his paycheck tothe household. He was then offered a job in the funeral industry.I didn’t know if I could handle working in a funeral home. On my first call, Iwas sent out to transport a body from a home. I loved it. At that moment,I found a purpose. I had a calling.”His brother, meanwhile, was at loose ends. He started hanging aroundyoung men in the neighborhood who were troublemakers. Theprocess was slow, but in time, his brother was in a gang.His younger brother was shot in the back in a stairwell at aGresham apartment complex. Although several people were inthe area and either saw the shooting, or knew what happenedand why, no one would step forward and provide a lead orworthwhile information to detectives.“What I said about choices?” asked Jones-Dixon. “My “Even though I was abrother was living in Portland, but ended up in East man of faith, I had anxietyCounty because that’s where the gangs were hangingout. That’s where he wanted to be. That’s where he felt about death,”he belonged. On the day he died, we were supposedto meet up to play kickball, but he went to thatapartment complex to hang out with the gangs.”He said he thinks about his brother’s murder allthe time, but he said his job in the funeral homehas given him perspective about his brother’smurder. 9PAGE

2016 NFMDANATIONAL CONVENTION THE KELLEY LAW FIRM WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE FOR STOPPING BY OURBOOTH AND GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT OUR LAW FIRM. IT WAS ALSO A PLEASUREVISITING WITH YOU AT OUR HOSPITALITY SUITE. IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED IN AN ACCIDENT PLEASE GIVE US A CALL. 1 (800) 498-KELLEY (5355) 10PAGE

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HARRISFUNERAL HOME FEATURE FUNERAL HOME > JefferyFuneral Director Harris1 How did you become interested with the funeral industry? a First Call; to arrangements with the family; visitation/viewing; funeral At age 7, I attended my first funeral, the cab driver who drove me to or memorial service; interment and repast; and, Aftercare Services. Our kindergarten suddenly passed away. Being my first funeral, I was involvement with our families and communities continues throughout fascinated with the entire process – the gathering of the people for the year with various events and programs – Back-to-School backpackthe viewing, the funeral itself and the interment – this experience left a donations, college scholarships for high school students, financial supportlasting impression on me, which nurtured my desire to become a Mortician. for many community non-profit organizations, church programs, Breast Cancer Awareness and youth sports teams, just to name a few.2. Why do you enjoy working in the funeral industry? 5. What demographics does your business typically cater to?I feel deeply honored to work in an industry where I can provide a meaningful We predominately serve the African-American community in Opelika, Auburn and surrounding communities in Lee, Macon and Chambersservice to others at one of the most difficult counties, regardless of religion, denomination or affiliation.times of their lives. I have a deep passion I FEEL DEEPLY 6. What was the most memorable funeral you serviced?for helping people and I believe that we HONORED TO The funeral that I remember the most was James Goode, about a month(Funeral Directors), who are truly called, are WORK IN AN after we opened. Tragically, James was accidentally killed. James’ mother, their family and our family were neighbors, we lived across the streetprivileged by God, with a special anointing from each other. Being new and young in the business, colleagues, other professionals had told me prior to this, never let people that you know well,and gift to serve and assist families that INDUSTRY WHERE compromise the way you handle your business. This broke all rules and sethave had a loss. I CAN PROVIDE a standard and spirit in how we served families. We’ve known Tina (James’s Mom) all of our lives and felt very honored and special to be trusted with a3. Imagine there is a conflict between A MEANINGFUL large service so early in our career. She wanted the best for her son and wetwo people at a funeral service. How SERVICE TO wanted the best for our friend. We grew up fast and executed a faultlesswould you resolve the conflict? service, complete with all details, a motto that we live by today. I often seeProper protocol is to stay professional, OTHERS AT ONE James’s mother, although I will always remember the moment I saw herat all times. Grief has a way of bringing OF THE MOST face after James passed away, today, I see peace from the service andup past grievances, unspoken affection DIFFICULT TIMES personal care she received in her time of need. We opened September 15, OF THEIR LIVES. 1991 and James passed away October 31, 1991. His memory lives in every service that we provide, especially when it is a sudden transition or tragedy,and sometimes problems to the surface. as a reminder, that we comforted a family that was in shock, and reallyOur responsibility is to manage and direct the services, provide whatevercomfort we can, while ensuring respect and safety for all, as our familiesmourn their loved one.4. How important is customer service at your funerals?We serve our families and communities 24/7/365 days every year.Families (and facilities), personally speak with a member of our staff from 12PAGE

Wylie Funeral Home Ranked #93 in100 Fastest-Growing Inner City Businesses, Mortuary science is not a common career path for young adults, but for Brandon Wylie, it was an easy decision to begin working for his father’s funeral home. “I saw the work he was doing in the community,” Wylie said of his father. This community impact extends beyond the high level of empathy and sensitivity required in this industry. Wylie Funeral Home has invested significant funds into the West Baltimore neighborhood where it started, and in 2014, they worked with Baltimore’s Vacant to Values program to open a new facility on an abandoned lot across the street from their original location. For Wylie, this has been an opportunity to give back to the neighborhood that helped the business thrive. “That community allowed us to grow,” he says. Five-Year Growth Rate (%) - 119% 2015 Revenues ($M) - $2.14 HQ Location - Baltimore, MD Business Leader(s) - Brandon M. Wylie, CFSP Title - Mortician 13PAGE



FUNERAL HOME HAS NEW OWNERSSHELIA HOLLAWAY AND CHRISTIE REDMON ARE THE ONLY FEMALE OWNERS OF A FUNERALHOME IN MANSFIELD. MANSFIELD FUNERAL HOME IS THE ONLY FUNERAL HOME IN TEXASRUN ON 100 PERCENT SOLAR ENERGY.S ometimes the most down a path of great education by a funeral time, providing their every need. Whether it be difficult time in a director and I’ve seen a path of bad education a private chef for a family that doesn’t want person’s life is saying from a funeral director. So Shelia and I just to cook, or for putting families in touch with a goodbye to a loved wanted to be a part of the stopping point of vacation planner to give them a break, it was one. It’s a time of education for those before death occurs, so going to be a business focused on helping and grieving and reflection. when they are sitting at the arrangement table providing. Many people that they fully understand what their options are lose a loved one and what paths they should and should not They began researching locations and visited choose to work with take.” multiple banks in the past two and a half a funeral home for years, looking for the perfect spot. But eight arrangements after “It was just one of those signs from God. He months ago, the partners received a call that death. The new owners said these two are so unique and I should would set the wheels in motion for the move. of the Mansfield Funeral Home are happy to put them together,” said Hollaway, who was a help in a time of need. cosmetologist for 35 years before becoming The pair was approved to build a funeral an embalmer. “I lost my father eight years ago home, but couldn’t get the land secured for Christie Redmon and Shelia Hollaway assumed and it was the first time I had the opportunity the building. They received a call from a real control of operations of the business on Aug. to be placed in a situation of (taking care of) estate official they had been working with, and 11, after it was sold to them by previous owners a loved one. Watching the embalmer perfect it just so happened that Mansfield Funeral Daryle and Melisa Perez. The new owners my dad as if he was sleeping, it fascinated me Home was to become available. have hosted five ceremonies since assuming and got me interested.” control, and have the only female-owned “After doing our research with the community funeral home business in Mansfield. A year after her father died, Hollaway lost and how focused they were on economic her son as well. The experience was much development, how the superintendent is all “I have been wanting to do this since I was 8,” different, and Hollaway felt that her needs were about the kids, the churches that are here, said Redmon, CEO and head funeral director not being met by the funeral home. just how focused they are on supporting the in charge. “My great-grandmother passed and businesses and people here, (it) made us feel I snuck into the prep room and watched them The experience stuck with Hollaway and really at home,” Redmon said. embalm her. I’ve been fascinated ever since. when she met Redmon at school, the wheels I’ve been able to watch families as I’ve gotten started turning for the pair to go into business Mansfield Funeral Home is available to all older and worked in funeral homes. I’ve seen together. They wanted to focus on customer faiths, ethnicities and cultures. families not knowing what to do and being led service and being with a family in a desperate 15PAGE

BROOKS FUNERT The grieving mother had a special request for her baby’s deaths — and burials — have been recorded, live-streamed and hair. So Margaret Brooks, a mother of five boys herself, made public, and viewed online around the world. But for the Brooks recounted the request like a prayer and gently started family, it’s been a summer of doing what they’ve always done: braiding so that 2-year-old Le’Vonte King Jason Jones helping families memorialize their deceased in ways the grieving would have four small plaits for his final farewell in the see fit.morning. “Funeral homes are for the living,” George Brooks said, “and for“He looked like an angel — perfect,” Brooks said, recalling his slim a family to feel, if at all possible, that they had the service theynecklace and crisp white shirt, buttoned over the bullet wound that wanted.”killed him the week before. Just hours earlier, she had put the finaltouches on the body of Philando Castile, a school cook shot by a Many of the services over the years have come after deaths withoutpolice officer in Falcon Heights. dignity — shots fired into the side of a minivan. Gunfire during a traffic stop. A house fire that left three children so burned their smallFor 75 years, families have brought their loved ones here, to Brooks caskets had to remain closed at the funeral. Details, ceremony andFuneral Home in St. Paul — the oldest surviving black funeral home ritual can restore a sense of respect and honor, families say.in the state. They entrust the latest generation, Brooks and herhusband, George Brooks III, with orchestrating the meticulous details At Castile’s funeral, a horse-drawn carriage and white casketthat bestow a final sense of dignity upon the dead, a service of carried the 32-year-old’s body to a stately — and deeply spiritual —historical importance in the black community. cathedral service. It was all part of his mother Valerie Castile’s vision for the day, relatives said.It’s a role that’s taken center stage in recent weeks, as certain 16PAGE

For 75 years, families have brought their loved ones to Brooks Funeral HomeRAL HOME in St. Paul —the oldest surviving black funeral home in the state.“She wanted her son’s homegoing to be fit open casket to the raised fists at Castile’s parishioners approached Margaret Brooksfor a king,” said his uncle, Clarence Castile. funeral. to hug her and commend her family. The“It was.” congregation also honored Brooks Funeral But the Brooks family rarely considers the Home during the service.For many African-Americans, death has politics of the funerals they plan. Whatalways been tied to freedom and celebration, concerns them more is carrying on the For George Brooks, the funeral home derivessaid Carol Williams, executive director of the funeral home’s legacy of compassion in the its pride less from recent events and moreNational Funeral Directors and Morticians community. Members of this community from a well-known spirit of empathy firstAssociation, the country’s largest black say they couldn’t be more proud of how the established by his father and grandfather.funeral home group. The connection traces funeral home conducted itself on a nationalback to slavery, with death representing a stage. “My father was most proud of the fact that hereturn to Africa, she said, so many use the had never turned a family away,” he said.term “homegoing” to describe the service. “It made me feel proud as an African- American man, as a black pastor and as “When you come into my funeral home,“Now there’s more of a religious tone to it — a black community leader,” said the Rev. it’s like you’re coming into my house,” saidgoing home to be with God,” Williams said. Runney Patterson of New Hope Baptist Margaret Brooks Church, who has worked with the funeralHistorically, black funerals have also offered home for 12 years. Young or old, rich or poor, every familymourners the chance to protest oppression deserves a service.and often-untimely death through During a recent worship service atstatements of activism — from Emmett Till’s Progressive Baptist Church in St. Paul, fellow 17PAGE



VIRGINIA TECH PROFESSOR EXPLORES HISTORY AND COMPLEXITY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FUNERAL HOME BUSINESS IN THE SOUTHB everly Bunch-Lyons vividly recalls her grandmother’s funeral in Raleigh, North Carolina. At age five, it was her first experience with death and the process of burying the dead. “While I recognized many of the faces at the funeral, among the unfamiliar were the stoic, hard- faced men in their black suits, white shirts, and black ties who seemed to be telling everyone what to do. Quietly, and with great dignity and poise, they orchestrated my grandmother’s going home ceremony,” said Bunch-Lyons, “and even at such an early age, I was fascinated by them.”Years later, as Bunch-Lyons was searching for a thesis topic for her master’s degree, the death of another familymember prompted her to explore what had peeked her interest early on — the work of people who engage in thebusiness of death in the African-American community. Although her thesis, completed in 1990, was narrowlyfocused on her hometown of Raleigh, which at the time had three African-American-owned funeral homes,she began to delve into the history of the business which surged after the Civil War. Concerns about how blackbodies were laid to rest by white undertakers fueled the desire among African Americans to have their familymembers buried by black undertakers whom they believed would bury their dead with care and dignity. A desireto meet this community need, while also earning a comfortable, stable living led would-be entrepreneurs tothe undertaking business.Bunch-Lyon’s research led her to the work of Booker T. Washington who believed that with the exception ofcaterer, there was no other business in which African-Americans “seem to be more numerously engaged orone in which they have been more uniformly successful.” U.S. census records in 1890 list 231 African-Americanfuneral firms nationwide. Today, there are more than 2,000. But the African-American funeral business is notwithout complexity, said Bunch-Lyons, who continues to explore its nuances. She recently authored “‘Ours is aBusiness of Loyalty’: African American Funeral Home Owners in Southern Cities,” published in the current issueof The Southern Quarterly literary magazine.Bunch-Lyons relies on personal accounts of funeral home operators in three Southern states (North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) to demonstrate powerful linkages between the personal, political,“‘OURS IS A BUSINESS social, and economic lives of funeral directors and the communities they serve.OF LOYALTY’: AFRICAN AMERICAN FUNERAL “These were truly family endeavors,” said Bunch-Lyons, “as wives and children often worked in the business, driving cars or attending to other business-related matters. HOME OWNERS IN Despite financial setbacks, Calvin Lightner continued to operate the Raleigh funeral businessSOUTHERN CITIES,” inherited from his father but also turned to local politics. In 1967 he became a member of the Raleigh City Council. During his tenure he served as chairman of the Law and Finance Committee; chairman of the Transit Study Committee; and member of the board of directors of the city/ county Tax Committee. His most prestigious positions were mayor pro-tem of Raleigh, and eventually mayor of Raleigh.“I found that turning to politics is a fairly common practice among funeral home owners,” said Bunch-Lyons.“They were able to capitalize on their status as well-respected members of their communities to segue into it.Once involved in local politics, they could encourage black citizens to support black businesses, exercise theirright to vote, and become better educated.”Stories of sanctions, however, discouraged some from entering the political arena. Although white did not, as arule, patronize black-owned funeral businesse sanctions could have repercussions if the family who owned thefuneral home also owned other businesses in the area. 19PAGE

Funeral Home Owner Adriana Harrison dies of cancer ADRIANA COLBERT HARRISON IS THE PRESIDENT AND OWNER OF “HARRISON’S MEMORIAL CHAPEL” AND “HARRISON’S FUNERAL HOME ORANGE MOUND CHAPEL”A cherished member of the Memphis community has passed away. Adriana C. Harrison, the president and owner of Harrison’s Memorial Chapel and Harrison’s Funeral Home Orange Mound Chapel, died Sunday (September 4, 2016) at Baptist DeSoto Hospital.She had been battling with cancer. Harrison was 55 yearsold, and leaves behind two children.Harrison’s celebration service was held at the BrownBaptist Church South at 7200 Swinnea Rd. in Southaven onSeptember 11th. 20PAGE

JArthur Grubbs III Katie JacksonA 2016 graduate of Opelika High School, Grubbs is the son of JArthur Jr. and Vertrina A 2016 graduate of Auburn High School, Jackson is the daughter of Tony and VeronicaGrubbs. He plans to attend Savannah College of Art & Design in Savannah, Ga., majoring Jackson. Her plans are to attend the University of Georgia to major in exercisein architecture and music production. His goal is to become an architect and music science and athletic training as she prepares to become a physical therapist. Sheproducer. Grubbs sees himself as someone who is creative, adventurous and focused describes herself as someone who is God-fearing, outgoing, and hardworking.on achieving his goals in life. He considers himself approachable and not afraid to take Jackson believes that with God, all things are possible. Being accepted at theon leadership roles when working with his friends. He has learned through hard work and University of Georgia is one of the greatest milestones of her life. “Let no man pulldetermination not to be defeated by failure, but to let it serve as a reminder to never give you so low as to hate him” is a philosophy she lives by. Her reliability is a trait herup on your dreams. He aspires to have his own architectural firm with a nonprofit entity friends admire and depend on.so that he can provide services for underprivileged children and others.Alexis Ligon Wiltavious BrownA graduate of Beauregard High School, Ligon is the daughter of Henry and Laura Ligon. Auburn A 2016 graduate of Loachapoka High School, Brown is the son of Tracey Brown. HeUniversity is her school of choice, with plans to major in music education. Upon completing plans to study information systems management at Auburn University. Brownher undergraduate studies, Ligon aspires to become a high school teacher as she pursues sees himself as someone who is humorous and humble, because he believesher doctorate in music. Her ultimate goal is to become a college professor of music. Ligon that one should never forget his beginnings and laughter is good for the soul.sees herself as someone who is dedicated, loving and cheerful. She learned that being Learning how much more can be accomplished when you delegate and sharedetermined and willing to persevere are traits that will help you achieve your goal when you responsibilities, and being content with how things turn out, are lessons Brownrefuse to give up. She is seen by her friends as someone who always has your back and says he will treasure forever. “In order to reach new heights, you must always belives life with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Her philosophy of life is, “What’s popular is not willing to try” is a philosophy he has learned to live by. His friends see him asalways right and what’s right is not always popular.” someone they can confide in, and enjoy his sense of humor.HARRIS FUNERAL HOMEANNOUNCES FOUR SCHOLARSHIP WINNERSA s Harris Funeral Home prepares to celebrate 25 years of providing personal and professional funeral service, the scholastic achievement, work experience, community service and Opelika business continues to salute and assist outstanding personal goals that are expressed in an essay response. students as they maintain high standards of conduct andacademics. It has been 17 years since Jeffery Harris decided that The Harris Funeral Home Memorial Scholarship is intended to helpgiving back to the community is as important as serving during a students reach their educational goals. Each recipient is awardedtime of hurt and healing, thus the Harris Funeral Home Memorial a scholarship of $500, which can be applied toward any education-Scholarship was established. related cost. Final selections were made by the Harris Funeral Home Scholarship Committee, with Cornelia Johnson as scholarship“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have” is the philosophy coordinator. Other members of the committee are Teresa Smith ofthat has made the Harris Funeral Home Memorial Scholarship an Dothan and Harriet Billups of Auburn.annual event. This scholarship program strives to recognize highschool seniors in area schools. It is based upon academic and Above are this year’s recipients of the scholarships. 21PAGE

Chicago Funeral HomesFace Challenges in GangTerritory“There were more than 2,000 shootings in flirting with a white woman, and Mayor HaroldChicago last year, and the city is on pace Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor. Childs isfor more this year.” the president of the funeral home and has been in the business for 40 years. He used to see one or two violence-related funerals a year. Now, he says he directs one or two every month. So he has to take into consideration all sorts of things that he otherwise wouldn’t — avoiding certain gang colors, navigating a tricky route between the service and the cemetery and hiring cops to keep the peace. At these funerals for interrupted lives, the mood is as much tense as somber. Eulogies must be delicately written for “kids who may have been doing things they shouldn’t have been doing,” Childs said. The smallest thing can turn grief to violence. “It could be something so minor, like somebody stepping on somebody’s foot or not saying hello or being asked to take their hat off,” Childs said.A t A.A. Rayner & Sons funeral home in Chicago, Charles In 2012, two men were shot outside a funeral that Childs was Childs is used to planning celebrations of long lives. directing for a reputed gang member. One was critically injured, His biggest concern traditionally has been timing the other killed on the church steps. The family of the deceased had the stop lights as he leads grieving families in a not told Childs about the gang association, so he hadn’t arranged procession to the cemetery. for police. “I was standing over him when his eyes rolled in the back of his head,” Childs recalled. These days, though, he has to worry about arranging a police presence to control the large, often emotional Behind the scenes, funeral directors in Chicago are dealing withcrowds that show up for the funerals of young people whose lives demographic challenges — young mothers and grandparents,have been cut short by gun violence. some of whom have wrenching questions about how and why death visited their young children. Others are all too aware.Rayner & Sons is a predominantly black funeral home founded in1947 on the city’s South Side. It handled the funerals for EmmettTill, the 14-year-old slain in Mississippi in 1955 after reportedly 22PAGE

amela Rayner, one of the owners of the funeral home, Making sacrifices to honor the dead is important to the Gatlings. remembers one mother who would not speak for 15 Lafayette Gatling Sr., Marguerite’s husband, remembers his minutes when she came to arrange services for her mother’s funeral when he was five. He remembers a viewing at his son. At the funeral, she stood outside for 25 minutes home, and being ashamed at the simple casket.P before entering. He doesn’t want anyone else to feel that way. “It kind of got to me because I’m thinking to myself this is her only child,” Rayner said. “Can you imagine “Regardless of how this person lived or what he did or what crime not today, not tomorrow, but next week when everybody is gone and he committed, it’s not our personal business,” he said. “Somebody everybody is back to their old daily work, she has to go into their loved this person. If nobody loved him, nobody would be here.” son’s house, in their son’s room, and start putting away his clothes.” She has seen mothers and grandmothers who have taken out life insurance on their own kids. She had to stop one funeral because of the threat of gang retaliation, and tell the mourners that for their own protection the service couldn’t go on. Cost is a concern, too, for families and the funeral home alike. Rayner & Sons and other funeral homes often provide pro bono services or deep discounts. An average family who comes to Rayner & Sons spends $6,000 to $7,000 on the funeral alone, plus $2,000 to $5,000 on cemetery and burial fees. Many families that have lost children to violence can only pay a fraction of the cost, Childs said. “We try to make sure they get the kind of decent service they can afford or that we can afford to give them,” said Marguerite Gatling of Gatling Chapel, a funeral home that she runs with her husband on the South Side. The Gatlings say they have seen families sell shirts and pins with the name and face of their loved one to cover the costs. Others have asked for donations at the services. Still, Marguerite Gatling said, she and her husband try not to let money limit what they can provide for families who have lost a child to gun violence. Others who can pay full price keep the funeral home solvent.Funeral director Lafayette Gatling, who works on the south side ofChicago, gives a bible like this one to each family he serves. 23PAGE

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