Pinoy in US shifts from high-tech industry to embalming
by Steve Angeles, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau | 11/02/2009 11:57 PM
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REDWOOD CITY, California – Jim Navarro was forced into early retirement from his job as an aeronautics engineer 5 years ago.
Instead of staying retired however, he found a new life at a funeral home.
“It's more stable. Your hardly hear layoffs in this industry. The high-tech industry where I came from, there was a whole bunch of us that got laid off,” said Navarro. “I took the early retirement so I wouldn't get laid off.”
As an apprentice embalmer, Navarro learned about the industry. He prepares bodies and counsels family members for funeral services. He will get his degree in mortuary sciences in the next 2 years.
The average salary for funeral services is just under $60,000 a year.
"My first human remains, I was scared out of my mind. But when I touched that body somehow it went away. And it gets easier,” he related.
Navarro said he is happy with his career. He is considering opening his own funeral home or becoming a funeral director once he gets his degree.
In the meantime, when he is not dealing with the dead, he serves the living as a councilman for Union City.
Enrollment spike
Some mortuary schools across the United States are experiencing a 20% jump in enrollment as the unemployment rate inches closer to 10%.
Business in the embalming industry remains steady.
Sky Lawn Memorial Park, where Navarro works at, just upgraded their facilities. They said that though customers have cut their costs, people still need funeral services.
“I don't think any industry has not been affected by the recession. And ours it's the same… I think we're finding more people who are comparing prices a little bit more. But probably more so than anything they're taking advantage of doing tree planning,” said Frank Kilby of Sky Lawn Memorial Park.
Even though the recession has forced some cutbacks in funeral spending, the death industry is one of the oldest professions—an industry that could never die.
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