Director's Insight 2017

DIRECTOR’SINSIGHT WWW.DIRECTORSINSIGHTMAG.COM | SUMMER 2017 | ISSUE 12Wolfe BrothersFuneralHomeFeature- Funeral HomeKELLEY LAW FIRM ALL WHITE PARTY RECAP - Page 18FUNERAL HOME FEATURE PIONEERING FUNERAL GUIDING OTHERS FTOANCSHSUACYKGBOEORDRBYYE- WOLFE BROTHERS HOME OWNER ALYCE THROUGH GRIEF AT HIS FUNERAL’SFUNERAL HOME CARTER GRIFFIN DEAD Page - 22 PUBLIC VIEWINGPage - 10 AT 98 Page - 26 Page - 14

CharlieMurphy,Dies at57 AfterLeukemiaBattle - PAGE 08 2PAGE

26 07 2004 16Table of 10CONTENTS 1604 EVERGREEN BUT NOT EVER-GROWING: CEMETERY HITTING ITS LIMIT CUSTOMIZED AT-SEA BURIALS FROM COAST TO COAST. BEHIND THE BUSINESS WITH 20 NEW ENGLAND BURIALS AT SEA’S CAPT. BRAD WHITE KELLEY LAW FIRM ALL WHITE PARTY RECAP07 21 SHAQ TO PAY FOR FUNERAL OF TEEN WHO THE FILIPINO DRUG WAR IS FLOODING THIS SHOT HIMSELF ON INSTAGRAM LIVE FUNERAL HOME WITH BODIES08 23GUIDING OTHERS THROUGH GRIEF 25 CHARLIE MURPHY, EDDIE MURPHY’S BROTHER, DIES AT 57 AFTER LEUKEMIA BATTLE THE KILLING OF JORDAN EDWARDS SHOWS AGAIN HOW BLACK MALES ARE VIEWED AS10 A THREAT FUNERAL HOME FEATURE: WOLFE BROTHERS 26FANS SAY GOODBYE TO CHUCK BERRY AT HIS FUNERAL HOME INTERVIEW FUNERAL’S PUBLIC VIEWING12 AFRICAN-AMERICAN FUNERAL HOMES FACE THEIR OWN SET OF CHALLENGES14 PIONEERING FUNERAL HOME OWNER ALYCE CARTER GRIFFIN DEAD AT 98 3PAGE

CUSTOMIZED AT-SEA BURIALS FROMCOAST TO COAST. BEHIND THE BUSINESS WITHNEW ENGLAND BURIALS AT SEA’S CAPT. BRAD WHITELosing a loved one is hard. But sending them off with a meaningful, personalized service can be a great comfort – and that’s exactly what Capt. Brad White aims to offer theclients of New England Burials At Sea LLC.Tell us about your business. It’s probably the mostunique business we’ve seen.New England Burials At Sea is the largest East coast providerfor customized ash-scattering memorials and full-body burialat sea events in the USA. Based in Massachusetts the companyoperates year-round from Maine to Miami and on the west coastfrom San Diego to Seattle, serving all faiths with personalizedand affordable services. We are recommended and approvedby most funeral homes. We’re properly insured, USCG licensed,and use over 84 different vessels, (including some vintageyachts dating back to 1935) departing from over 73 ports for upto 400 people. Our vessels are clean and current, with the latestsafety gear.I am the founder, a Master USCG Licensed Captain. I overseesales, marketing, operations, customer service, and wholesalerelationships.So how does it work, and who are your customers?Our unattended scattering prices start at just $495. The eventincludes an official ship’s parchment sea burial certificatemarking the coordinates of the decedent’s final resting place,an eight bell end-of-watch blessing, and a ten-gauge cannonsalute as the ship circles the flower field. Families are encour-aged and welcome to participate.Everyone is a potential customer. The people who call us aregenerally 35-65 years old, with an even number of betweenmale and female. The actual customer we bury at sea had alove for the ocean or the idea of going back to nature. Thereare 175 million people who live within 10 miles of the water inthe USA. We serve all races, cultures, and creeds, civilian ormilitary, and we create a unique and fitting send off for each. 4PAGE

What made you choose this path? What does the future look like for you and your business?I’ve always loved the ocean. I was in the corporate world in business It looks great—with the cremation rate expected to exceed 78% of totaldevelopment, sales and marketing for over 25 years and decided to fill deaths in the USA in the year 2035 and people opting away from traditionalthis need that we can continue to develop as the market leader in proper in-ground burials, we are well-positioned to grow as we build the officialand meaningful burials at sea. New England Burials at Sea brand over the next 20 years. I want us to be the Levi Strauss of the industry. Meaning the best and most rugged qualityIs it a family legacy or are you a pioneer? company out there offering what we do with product and service.Yes to the legacy. In the mid 1900s, my family was in the milk business,delivering dairy products by horse and buggy throughout New England. Mygreat uncle Edwin said “if the horses are not working in the afternoons, let’sget into the funeral business and pull hearses.” The McKelly Funeral homewas then born in Boston and later became Gormley Funeral Services, whichanother family continues to operate today. Fast forward to the 2000s, NEBASwas founded when asked to scatter someone’s cremated remains at sea— one became 20, which became 200, and the business was founded in2006. I’m definitely a pioneer — but without a horse — I use a fleet of boatsinstead! People come from all over the world to use our services and we are proud of that as we’ve worked hard to earn the recognition as the go-to company for a quality event at sea. 5PAGE



SHAQ TO PAY FOR FUNERAL OFTEEN WHO SHOT HIMSELF ONINSTAGRAM LIVEShaquille O’Neal has offered to pay for the funeral services of “I heard a big boom. I couldn’t tell if it was a gunshot or a Georgia teen who accidentally killed himself Monday while what,” Stephens said. livestreaming a video on Instagram Live. Stephens said she had just watched her son take out the trash moments before he went into his bedroom to record the video onMalachi Hemphill, 13, was handling a gun in his bedroom as friends Instagram Live.watched him on the app when he shot himself at his home in Forest When Stephens heard the gun go off, she and her daughter ranPark, Georgia. upstairs to his bedroom, but the door was locked. “We kicked in the door. We found him just laying there in a poolHe was pronounced dead Monday evening at an Atlanta hospital. of blood,” Stephens said. “My daughter screamed and said, ‘Mom,Grieving family members were touched when O’Neal, who is from the turn his phone off!’ As I proceeded to look at his phone, he was onAtlanta area, called and then paid a them visit on Thursday, news Instagram Live.”station WXIA reported. She said his friends who had been watching the livestream ran over to their home.“We just broke down and started crying because Malachi didn’t “There was about 40 to 50 kids outside,” she said. “I guess thesehave any insurance,” Malachi’s godmother Shantirea Bankston told were the kids that were watching on Live that live in the area. IWXIA. “We wasn’t prepared to bury him this young. We didn’t have guess when it happened, they just ran over here.”insurance for him. So to have that from Shaquille O’Neal it was a The former basketball star said that he wanted to alleviate theblessing and very touching, and we appreciate everything he do for financial burden for Malachi’s motherthe community.” “No mother should have to go through this. I can only imagine the pain that she and all of Malachi’s family must be feeling. I justHis mom, Shaniqua Stephens, was home when her son fatally wanted to do what I could to help them at such a terrible time,”shot himself while handling the gun in his bedroom in Forest Park, O’Neal said in a statement to WXIA.Georgia. She said he had been trying to put a clip in the gun.7PAGE

L A I D Charlie Murphy,TO Dies at 57 AfterR E S T Leukemia BattleCharlie Murphy, the older brother of Eddie Murphy, a Chappelle’s Show star and an accomplished comedian in his own right, died Wednesday in New York City. He was 57.Murphy’s publicist confirmed the comedian’s death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause ofdeath was leukemia.“Our hearts are heavy with the loss today of our son, brother, father, uncle and friend Charlie,”the Murphy family said in a statement. “Charlie filled our family with love and laughter and therewon’t be a day that goes by that his presence will not be missed.” 8PAGE

Charlie served in the United States Navy for six years before starting his career as a comedian. He made his feature film debut alongside brother Eddie in 1989’s Harlem Nights, then went on to appear in CB4 in 1993 and Night at the Museum in 2006. Growing up in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn, Charlie often stuck up for his younger brother; in defending Eddie, Charlie joked about fearing his mom’s wrath if bullies picked on Eddie more than the bullies themselves. That guardian role made Charlie a natural to serve as Eddie’s security guard as the comedian quickly ascended to stardom. Due to Charlie’s propensity toward overreacting while guarding his brother – “Whoever say something, I almost gave this old man a heart attack on a plane because he asked us if we were a basketball team. I took that personally,” Murphy said in a Chappelle’s Show outtake – forced Murphy to embark on his own career. After making his big screen debut in Harlem Nights and appearing in bit roles in Spike Lee films like Mo’ Better Blues and Jungle Fever, Murphy’s big break came as a cast member on Chappelle’s Show, where “Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories” resulted in a pair of that series’ most memorable sketches. Both sketches featured Murphy reminiscing about he and Eddie’s celebrity encounters in the Eighties, with Dave Chappelle portraying Rick James and Prince in the now-legendary sketches. Charlie is survived by his three children. His late wife Tisha Taylor Murphy died in 2009 after battling cancer. Dave Chappelle,Eddie Griffin, George Lopez, Donnell Rawlings and Cedricthe Entertainer were among the friends and colleagues paying their final respects. 9PAGE

FUNERAL HOME FEATURE:WOLFE BROTHERSFUNERAL HOMEInterview with Larry Wolfe 3. How did you become interested with the funeral in- dustry? 1. In your own words, who is Larry Wolfe? I became interested in the funeral industry at the age of 7 as I followed Larry Wolfe, is a native of Marianna, Arkansas and Class of 1973 graduate my father to his job as a licensed embalmer and funeral director. of Lee Senior High School. He retired from the United States Army and the 4. Why do you enjoy working in the funeral industry? United States Postal Service, with 30 years of combined service. He is the Working in the funeral industry has given me the opportunity to help Co-Owner and General Manager of Wolfe Brothers Funeral Home, Inc. with someone in their time of need and during the most stressful time of their locations in West Memphis, AR and Turrell, AR. He has been a Licensed life. Funeral Director for over thirty years and currently serves as the President 5. Imagine there is a conflict between two people at a of Arkansas Funeral Directors and Morticians Association; Arkansas Funeral funeral service. How would you resolve the conflict? Person of the Year; Chief Deputy Coroner for Crittenden County, Arkansas; In order to resolve a conflict between two people at a service, I imme- board member of the West Memphis Police Foundation. He is an antique car diately try to get them to understand that this is an emotional time for enthusiast, loves traveling and German shepherd dogs. everyone. Also, that they should focus on the memory of their loved one and resolve this at a later time because today is not about you. 2. What have you always wanted to be growing up ? Growing up I always wanted to become an entrepreneur and open up my ideperi poenam peremqu erceps, clerfer quam. own funeral home.10PAGE

6. How important is customer service at your funerals?First and foremost, the only product we offer is service. Therefore theonly service we provide is customer service.7. Describe the most stressful situation you had at work.How did you handle the situation?The most stressful situation for me is when a family is having financialdifficulties. I often suggest that they have a family meeting in order tocomplete the funeral arrangement.8. What demographics does your business typicallycater to?The demographics of my immediate area is 51% Black, 44% White and2.3% Hispanic.9. Describe a time when you went above and beyondwhen consoling someone.I offer condolences to every family. The best way for me to ease theamount of grief or sorrow the family is experiencing is to listen as theytell stories of their loved ones (many of them I have known), profession-ally conduct the arrangement and assure them know that everything willbe taken care of.10. What was the most memorable funeral you ser-viced?Most memorable funeral would be the service of a young airman, wholost his life and received full military honors. 11PAGE

AFRICAN-AMERICANFUNERAL HOMES FACETHEIR OWN SET OFCHALLENGES The business of dealing with the dead has been a way of life for Karen West Butler since her earliest memories of living above the family funeral home established by her grandparents 85 years ago in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.“What I have always said “You respected families during visitation hours, which were typicallyabout the funeral business is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.,” said Ms. Butler, owner of West Funeral Home onif you are fortunate enough Wylie Avenue. “You either did homework or you watched television.to retire, you can retire,” Ms.Butler said. “But most likely “But you couldn’t make too much noise because you were upstairs.you die in this business.” You couldn’t run around like you were chasing each other until after visitation was over.” West Funeral Home, which is believed by many in Pittsburgh’s African- American community to be the oldest black-owned business in the region, at one time buried nearly everyone in the Hill District, a historically black community on the outskirts of Downtown. In a city that was segregated, West Funeral Home provided a place of refuge for black families. 12PAGE

Funeral parlors run by white funeral directors did not usually AS MORE AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILIES welcome business from African-Americans. Black people HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE HILL DISTRICT knew they could count on the West family to preserve their OVER THE YEARS, THE NUMBER OF FUNER- burial traditions. Most importantly, they would give the deceased ALS MS. BUTLER HAS BEEN CONDUCTING a type of respect in death that the person might not have always HAS BEEN DECLINING. received in life. “They want to contact you by email,” she said. “Or they want to look After Ms. Butler’s grandfather, Thomas West Sr., died in 1968, her on your webpage to see what you have to offer as far as caskets or father and uncle took over the business with the help of her mother. your automobiles and things such as that. The funeral home owners Her uncle, Raymond West, died in 1982. Her father, Thomas West also are in the technological age. They send emails. I don’t have one. Jr., died in 1989. Ms. Butler and her mother, Thelma West, carried Somebody is calling me about setting up a webpage. So I’m working on the business together until her mother had to be placed in a on a webpage. nursing home because of Alzheimer’s disease. She died in 2006 at age 88. “But when you are in by yourself, it makes it kind of difficult because you don’t have anybody else to help monitor the webpage and things Now Ms. Butler alone carries on the legacy that has been handed like that,” she said. “The funeral business — as far as I’m concerned down from one generation to the next since 1932. — is more of a personal business. And once you lose the personality and the personal part of it, I think you have lost an awful lot.” She worries that her passing could be the end for West Funeral Home. None of her three sons are interested in following her Last year, West Funeral Home answered 38 calls for service. The footsteps. While each of them help her when they have time off, prior year, it answered 50 to 60 calls, a far cry from the days when they have other jobs. And Ms. Butler, who declined to say how old West employed a full-time staff and answered hundreds of calls she is, acknowledges that she is getting up in age. in the course of a year. The funeral business today is different from the one she grew up in. Owning a funeral home has historically been a profitable business that attracted African-Americans looking for economic opportuni- The way Ms. Butler sees it, the new generation puts less value on ties. the human touch and relies on technology for communicating. But black funeral homes are facing new challenges, largely The funeral home industry overall faces more pressure to publish because of increased competition from other funeral homes and the prices of their goods and services online so consumers can funeral products suppliers and falling profit margins. According comparison shop without calling or visiting a funeral home. to the National Funeral Directors Association, the U.S. currently has 19,322 funeral homes. The organization keeps no data on the number of African-American funeral homes. Several interested buyers have approached Ms. Butler in recent years, but the people who have come forward seem to be interest- ed in purchasing only the building, not the business. Another scenario Ms. Butler is open to would be for an intern at the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science to train with her with the idea of getting a license and taking over. She recently had an intern who did just that but ended up moving to California instead. “I’d like for them to stay, rather than get experience from me and move somewhere else,” Ms. Butler said, adding that she began internships only two years ago because, until then, she still had hopes of her own children taking over. “Let’s face it,” she said. “A lot of funeral home directors are mature like me. It’s a troubling situation because it’s a business as well as an emotional decision.” 13PAGE

ALYCEPIONEERING FCUNAERARL THOEMEROWGNERR IFFINDEAD AT 98Alyce Carter was a Howard University graduate who worked Mrs. Griffin, 98, died Feb. 28 at The Clare senior at a law firm and always wore a hat and gloves when living community, 55 E. Pearson. Ernest A. Griffin, an aspiring funeral director, begancourting her in 1945. She and her husband handled the funerals for many of Chicago’s most accomplished African-Americans, includingGriffin was a young widower then with a 1-year-old daughter, Olympic sprinter Jesse Owens, Chicago Teachers UnionEthel Dawn, named for her mother — and the hour that Ethel president Jacqueline Vaughn and pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong,Griffin had died while giving birth to her. once married to jazz legend Louis Armstrong. They did the services for two Harlem Globetrotters and countless doctors, teachers andHe wanted companionship and love and someone who would lawyers.embrace his little girl. When they did a funeral for a Coca-Cola executive, the soft-drinkWhen he introduced relatives to Alyce Carter, they weren’t sure company sent a Coke truck to carry the casket to the cemetery,what to make of her East Coast flair. “She wore the vivid lipstick, where Ernest Griffin poured a can of cola over the gravesite,and she wore the mule shoes and vivid colors,” said Ethel Dawn intoning: “May your thirst always be quenched.”Griffin-O’Neal. Ernest Griffin was the dreamer who thought of ways to expand theAlyce Carter’s parents, meanwhile, weren’t keen on her marrying business. Mrs. Griffin negotiated with banks, dealt with equipmenta man with a baby. and suppliers and saw to it that the mortgage was paid off in half the time Mrs. Griffin also did makeup and hair styling for theBut Alyce and Ernest got married in 1946. And she adopted Dawn, deceased.who says, “I am the woman I am today because of Mother Alyce.” “When you got up in the morning and saw my mother, she wasTogether, they built Chicago’s Griffin Funeral Home, known for its fully dressed up, fully made up and ready to go,” Pearl Griffin said.attention to detail, elegant decor and custom-painted “GriffinGreen” flower cars — so grieving families would feel as if they The Griffins lived above the funeral home. When her husbandwere following a bed of flowers to the cemetery instead of a learned it was on the site of Camp Douglas — a notoriouslycasket. disease-ridden prison camp for Confederate soldiers — he began flying a Confederate flag at half-mast to remember those who died there. “They were the sons of God before they were the sons of man,” he’d say. The flag kept getting torn down. He died in 1995. Mrs. Griffin and her daughters continued operat- ing the funeral home until closing it in 2007. She is also survived by a granddaughter and two great-grandchildren. 14PAGE

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EVERGREEN BUT NOTEVER-GROWING: CEMETERYHITTING ITS LIMITOh, there will be burials for years to come is available to us unless somebody tells us. If there at New Evergreen Cemetery on New are no grave sites at Evergreen, we might want Walkertown Road, where there are some (funeral directors) to help us say there are sites at4,000 grave plots sold but not yet filled. Woodland.”But time is running out for anyone hoping to Burials at Woodland would keep loved ones’acquire a plot now for future use: Last week, there remains close by, Adams said, instead of having towere fewer than 10 unsold plots in a cemetery that go somewhere farther away.has some 32,000 grave sites. According to city records and James Mitchell, theFor some, it signals a troubling end for Winston- city’s property and facilities management director,Salem’s principle black cemetery, where Evergreen Cemetery opened in 1928 on privategenerations of residents have found their finalresting place. “People are concerned that if they have a grave site they“If Evergreen is where your family is buried, you would rather be in Evergreenwant to be buried where your family is buried,” said than somewhere else,”Carla Brown Rumph, funeral director at Clark S.Brown & Sons Funeral Home, which has been in property owned by James Foy, a prominent blackbusiness since 1928. “We are very unhappy about it farmer. The property backed up to Smith Reynoldsbeing full and the city not planning on expanding. Airport, and when the airport needed room forI think that if we don’t have a public cemetery expansion in the 1940s the graveyard was movedavailable to our residents a lot of people will not be to its present location and became New Evergreenable to afford a burial.” Cemetery, although many people still call it by its old name.New Evergreen is one of two city-ownedcemeteries, the other being Woodland. Woodland The few remaining plots for sale at Newhas more than 450 unsold plots, but there’s a Evergreen are individual plots, not groups, citycatch — more than one, actually. Because blacks officials said. Although some people want theirwere excluded from Woodland during segregation loved one buried at New Evergreen becausedays, some still don’t want their loved ones buried other family members are there, Douthit saidthere. And according to Council Member D.D. that the cemetery is so big that the graves aren’tAdams, a lot of blacks still don’t see Woodland as likely to be close unless a group of plots wasa place where their burials would be welcomed. bought in the past.“For years, we could not be buried at Woodland,” “It may be a rarity that you are able to get themAdams said. “There is still that perception. I would close,” Douthit said. “Pretty soon you won’t belike to see us have some conversations with some able to do it. You will have to go to Woodland.”African-American funeral homes, directors andmorticians (because) we don’t know the graveyard 16PAGE

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KELLEY LAW FIRM ALLWHITE PARTY RECAP Thank You for coming to the 2017 Annual House Of Representatives meeting. It was a pleasure speaking with you at our All White Party. If you have any questions or if we can be any assistance to you don’t hesitate to call us. the Kelley Law Firm is always here for you. 1 (800) 498-KELLEY (5355) - www.YouCanCallUs.com 18PAGE

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THE FILIPINO DRUG WARIS FLOODING THIS FUNERALHOME WITH BODIESIt’s 8 PM on a Tuesday at the Eusebio Funeral Home just north of Manila, and we’re waitingfor somebody to die.We don’t know who it’s going to be, but the caskets stacked in the corner can fit justabout anyone. Ever since last summer, when recently-elected President Rodrigo Duterteexhorted his citizens to slaughter drug dealers and users in the Philippines, business hereat Eusebio has been booming, with the facility popping up in various media reports on theimmense bloodshed. When I visit, the employees show off new clothes and watches.Orly Fernandez, the nightshift manager, lives in a concrete alcove attached to the garage.He seals himself in at dawn only to emerge again at dusk, when the murders typically be-gin. He has informants in the police department who alert him about each new homicide,he says, and when the black phone in the office rings, his men speed off in their hearse tothe latest murder scene. A man named Ruel is driving tonight, and he’s swerving throughtraffic in a race to beat the competition. First prize is the body; sometimes, two or morefuneral crews arrive simultaneously. Curses are exchanged, and fights occasionally breakout, with one employee going so far as to claim participation in a literal “tug of war.”When the sun is up, we start going to wakes. “Five bodies today,” my translator Bien tellsme, relaying the latest from the funeral home. “Three were beaten to death. Two shot. Oneman’s nails were pulled out. A woman was found floating on the seabed.”At a wake the following day, I speak with the mother of another murder victim. “They killed myson three days ago,” she weeps. “Ramil was thirty-five, but I still think of him as a baby. Thoseare my happiest memories—when I held him in my arms and did everything for him. He wasa good boy. He used to work sweeping the streets so our family could eat. A few years ago though, he began using shabu. When he was on shabu, he was a different person. He would run out into the streets and challenge everyone to fight. Once, he knocked out two of his father’s teeth. Still, before he died, he wrote to me that he was sorry. He had started reading the Bible. He wanted to be a better man.” “They killed him before he had the chance,” she adds. Back at Eusebio, the sun is setting, signaling the beginning of another day of death. Orly Fernandez is awake and handling the fill-in-the-blank plaques that accompany every casket. The one for this grieving mother’s son reads: In Memoriam Born on: December 18, 1981 Died: April 9, 2017 Age: 35 Fernandez spits on a rag and wipes the details away. The plaque is now clean, blank, and ready for the next name. 21PAGE

“I want to give an opportunity for a young person to be a businessowner that I know can serve thecommunity well,” - Bryan FosterGUIDING OTHERSTHROUGH GRIEFBryan Foster, president and Foster Funeral & Cremation Services has Johnson also noted his grandfather Frank funeral director at Foster two locations, one in 1650 Huebbe Parkway, Black was a funeral director in Tennessee Funeral & Cremation Service, Beloit, and 2109 Luann Lane, Madison. and now helps out at another local funeral sees his job as a spiritual The business prides itself on offering home. calling. And it’s one he hopes compassionate service at an affordable to pass on to others through price. It has three funeral directors in Perhaps Johnson reminds Bryan Foster his rigorous apprenticeship program. addition to four to five apprentices enrolled a little bit of himself. Even as a young in mortuary school. child Foster was fascinated with funerals, Beloit Memorial High School junior attempting to embalm grasshoppers with Kristayvion Johnson is one of the Although Foster’s has a history of training Elmer’s glue growing up in St. Louis. Foster beneficiaries of this program. Johnson is future funeral directors, Johnson is a little said he eventually started washing cars at a funeral assistant and is already working unique, as he is still in high school. a funeral home. Always dressed in suits, with families. Foster hopes Johnson will everyone called Foster the undertaker. continue with the business through high He wedged his foot in the door by school. Upon graduation, Johnson will be volunteering, cutting grass and trimming Foster went on to serve 20 years of active eligible to apply to be a candidate in the bushes. Bryan Foster said he saw something duty in the U.S. Army, but would always find pre-selection apprenticeship program while in Johnson and eventually invited him to part-time funeral home jobs wherever he he is attending mortuary school. take part in the apprenticeship program. was stationed. Bryan Foster is so confident in Johnson’s “I saw Kris and his motivation. Even people Once Foster hired Johnson, he soon had abilities that he plans to one day sell him that don’t know him will look at him and say him helping grieving families. He wasn’t the business. ‘he’s going to make a good funeral director,’” surprised when customers started specifi- Foster said. “Somebody gave me the chance cally asking for Johnson. “I want to give an opportunity for a young and it’s my responsibility to give others a person to be a business owner that I know chance.” One of Johnson’s first big funerals to work can serve the community well,” Foster said. on was for Tony Robinson, Jr., a 19-year-old 22PAGE unarmed African-American man shot by

a police officer in Madison in March 2015 Savion Latimer, a 16-year-old killed in Beloit pre-selection cadet program.and protested by the Black Lives Matter on Dec. 23, 2016.movement. Foster said his program is a good way Johnson had played basketball with Latimer for people to learn if they really want to“He communicates with families well, and and was a friend to him. Johnson said he pursue a career as a funeral director.they can understand him. They really like wanted to work with his family and remains Those who go into the career have to behim. He has a fan club of people in multiple close with them. prepared for selfless service, being calledcounties,” Foster said. away on birthdays, holidays and weekends Foster said Johnson’s work with families to assist families. Those who serve mustJohnson also assisted with the funeral of and his work ethic continue to catch his eye. be compassionate, listen to each family’sSylville Smith, a 23-year-old shot by police in Johnson has most recently been passing out requests, and have good standing in theMilwaukee. The funeral was attended by the his funeral cards at police stations, nursing community.Rev. Jesse Jackson and attracted 500-600 homes and more.people in August 2016. “A funeral director has to be trustworthy and Once Johnson graduates high school, he able to hold confidential information,” FosterJohnson continued to be there for families will begin mortuary school online while said. “Nothing related to a decedent can bein need when tragedy hit especially close to continuing to work closely with Foster in his released, for forever.”home. He helped with the funeral of his friend 23PAGE

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THE KILLING OF JORDAN This undated photo provided by Edwards family attorney shows Jordan Edwards with his father, Odell Edwards. (Edwards family photo)EDWARDS SHOWS AGAINHOW BLACK MALES — Hours before the funeral, former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver walkedEVEN CHILDREN — ARE out of jail after posting $300,000. Oliver, 37, was arrested Friday and charged with murder. He was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department for whatVIEWED AS A THREAT Chief Jonathan Haber called “violations” in protocol.The car drove away from the high school house party, down a street in a Dallas Jordan’s death echoes other police shootings involving black boys that havesuburb dotted with single-level brick homes, when the police officer raised his riled the country.rifle and fired. A 2014 study released by the Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyA bullet tore through the front passenger window, killing an unarmed 15-year- found that black children are more likely to be the subjects of dehumaniza-old: Jordan Edwards. tion by police officers, in turn making them subject to higher rates of police violence.As the death reignited a national conversation about race and the police, Reggie Miller, chairman of the National Black Police Assn., which, amongit’s also elevated what’s viewed as a well-understood fact in many African other things, seeks to forge better relationships between police and minorityAmerican communities: When you’re black — even if you’re a child — you can communities, said diversity training could help.be viewed as a threat to police. “It’s not a crime to be young and black,” he said. “But some officers see a do- rag or dreads and feel threatened. More understanding is needed.”“These are trained professionals, who are supposed to make rational Speaking by phone from his offices in Tallahassee, Fla., Crump said Saturdaydecisions, but they’re not,” said Benjamin Crump, a former president of the it came as a relief that prosecutors acted swiftly in charging Oliver withNational Bar Assn., a network of black lawyers and judges. “And yet again our murder just six days after the shooting.children — I repeat, children — are paying the ultimate price.” The charges against the officer came the same week there were develop- ments in two other high-profile cases involving police and black males, adults in these cases. On social media, the hashtag #JordanEdwards has been trending in honor of the slain teen. 25PAGE

FANS SAY GOODBYETO CHUCK BERRY ATHIS FUNERAL’S PUBLICVIEWINGLegendary musician Chuck Berry‘s funeral was Sunday in St. Louis, about three weeks after his death at the age of 90. A public viewing was held at The Pageant, a St. Louis club where Berry performed, with fans beginning to line up before dawn, according to the Associated Press. The private Celebration of Life service followed at 1 p.m. for the musician’s family and friends, with the procession to the cemetery starting around 3:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon, according to Fox 2 News. Berry’s open casket had a red Gibson electric guitar bolted to the inside of its lid, and a musician outside played some of Berry’s hits, including “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Gene Simmons gave remarks during the memorial service. The Rolling Stones also reportedly sent a flower arrangement in the shape of a guitar, according to local reports. The band had reacted on the evening of his death with a joint statement, citing his massive influence on their own music. 26PAGE

The Rolling Stones are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Chuck Berry. He was a true pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll and a massive influence on us,” the band wrote. “Chuck was not only a brilliant guitarist, singer, and performer, but most importantly, he was a master craftsman as asongwriter. His songs will live forever.”In a tweet, Keith Richards added, “One of my big lights has gone out.”Berry produced a litany of hit singles such as “Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Brown Eyed HandsomeMan,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “School Days,” “Nadine” and “Rock and Roll Music.” Berry is credited with reshapingrhythm and blues into what we now recognize as rock and roll. His lyrics explored teen life and Americancommercialism, and his music fused exciting guitar solos with flair and showmanship.On the evening of his death, his family posted on Berry’s official Facebook page.“We are deeply saddened to announce that Chuck Berry – beloved husband, father, grandfather andgreat-grandfather – passed away at his home today at the age of 90. Though his health had deterio-rated recently, he spent his last days at home surrounded by the love of his family and friends,” theywrote. “The Berry family asks that you respect their privacy during this difficult time.” 27PAGE

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