Women in Funeral Service: Strong presence in the Southern Tier
Apr 10, 2018Katie Sullivan / Staff VideoFuneral Director Jennifer Sullivan of Thomas J. Shea Funeral Home, Inc., moves a coffin from the Binghamton funeral home into an awaiting hearse during a funeral service on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.(Photo: Kate Collins)Inside Sutfin Funeral Chapel in Nichols, an essential oil diffuser fills the air with a subtle, fresh fragrance.Along a side wall, several handmade quilts are draped over a rack, gifts from families served here.And on a long table in the side meeting room, where a bay window lets the light in from this stretch of South Main Street in the small town of Nichols, funeral director Jody Cooley has set out a silver tray upon which she's placed several small bottles of water, hand sanitizer, a box of tissues and two clear dishes: one filled with miniature Hershey bars and the other with silver foil wrapped York peppermint patties.Because it helps, she says.Cooley's is a snapshot of the modern funeral home, where personal touches prevail over convention and where women have found a niche in a previously male-dominated field.In the past 40 years, the number of funeral directors who are women in the United States has jumped from five percent to 43 percent, according to the New York State Funeral Directors Association. And, 60 percent of today's mortuary science students are women, according to the National Funeral Directors Association.Here in the Southern Tier, women hold roles as funeral directors and owners in some of the 97 funeral firms recognized by the New York State Department of Health's Bureau of Funeral Directing in Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins counties.Back when Jody Cooley's mother, Carol Cooley, was leaving her nursing career to pursue funeral service in 1980 with her husband, David, in 1980, she was one of about five women in her mortuary science class, she says. Even years later, it's not uncommon for a caller to be surprised to learn yes, they're already speaking to the owner when Carol Cooley answers t... (Press & Sun-Bulletin)
