TodayCarlisle funeral director serves the living by caring for the dead
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Article Rating“How can you do that for a living?” is a common question posed to Lynn A. Ronan.
The Carlisle area funeral director's response remains the same: “How could I not?”
Ronan deals with life's greatest mysteries and is used to people questioning him about death. “I deal with the unknown and the uncertain. I deal with the dead and with the living. In funeral directing we serve the living by caring for the dead.
"The main portion of what I do is supporting the family. I get them started in their grieving process. I help people everyday so when asked how can I do this - I really believe how could I not. I am helping people through one of the most difficult times of their lives.”
Ronan, 44, a lifelong Carlisle area resident, is a first-generation funeral director, who has worked in the industry for 20 years. He started his family owned and operated funeral home in 1996 on York Road in South Middleton Township.
Ronan remembers that the first funerals he attended as a child had an influence on what he wanted to do for a living. “I always had an interest in helping people and I knew that I wanted to do something in the health industry. My family knew a gentleman who buried most of my family. I still remember how he conducted himself at our funerals and it had a significant influence on me.”
Ronan, who earned a bachelor's degree in health sciences from Juniata College, attended a mandatory 12-month program at the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. After graduating, he passed his national boards and then served a year internship at a funeral home in Shippensburg.
In 1987, he successfully sat for his Pennsylvania Funeral Directors licensing, which was a three-day test consisting of written questions, a practicum portion with the State Board of Funeral Directors and grueling oral exams.
To gain experience, he worked the next 10 years for funeral homes. “In this industry, there are second- and even fifth- generation funeral directors."
Ronan says the profession is rewarding but quite demanding. “I am always available and I am always on call. I have no idea what each day will bring. The phone in our funeral home also rings at our home, so I can get phones calls at anytime day or night. I work for my clients so I have to be available when people need me.”
His duties range from day to day: answering phones, attending meetings, office work, accounting, or tending to the maintenance on the funeral home - but when a family needs his help he quickly devotes himself to their needs.
Once Ronan is contacted by a family, he and his clients discuss appropriate services and make preliminary arrangements. He takes care of their funeral desires and details, but he is also there to listen and answer questions, and help them with their grieving process.
Every family goes through a different ordeal when they are dealing with the death of a loved one, he says. “No death is easy. I am helping families through one of the lowest points of their lives. I am helping them get on the road to normalcy.”
Families can choose services ranging from traditional funerals to cremation services.
“Cremation is a process that involves extreme heat to return the body to its basic elements. It is an alternative to earth burial but it is not a substitute for the funeral ceremony or memorial service."
Funeral directors also are required by law to gather vital statistical information, so Ronan obtains and files the death certificate. Ronan and the family collaborate to write the obituary. He makes the final arrangements and does the embalming.
“Embalming is a process that replaces blood and body fluids with a preservative solution. This process allows the body to be in a preserved state until the funeral proceedings, but it is not a long-term preservation.”
Some clients might need "restoration," such as someone who was in an accident or suffered a disease. "My philosophy is that people should look natural - like themselves." In addition, he often suggests bringing in clothes that are reminiscent of their loved one. Hair and makeup is also done according to the family's preferences.
“I believe that personalizing services helps to start the healing process,” he says.
The most memorable funeral at his funeral home involved motorcycles. “I always encourage people to tell me about their loved one's hobbies. There was a gentleman who loved motorcycles, so his family got him a motorcycle hearse; there were 65 Harleys in the funeral procession.”
Ronan also has incorporated silk roses, seashells, bagpipers and doves into some of his services.
What stereotypes would Ronan like to clear up? “We all don't drive around in black hearses being morbid and dark. We are normal people and this is what we do for a living.”
He also wants people to know there are some things that funeral directors are required by law to do as far as showing price lists and merchandise. “We are require by the Federal Trade Commission to provide a copy for retention of a general price list to our clients, and there are 17 items that are required to be on the price list. We are also required to show the family a casket and outer burial (vault) price list.”
When Ronan is not working, he is civically and religiously involved within the community, including membership in several professional associations for funeral directors and Cumberland Star Lodge 197 F&AM. He also is organist for his church in Boiling Springs.
Ronan has a wife, and three boys who keep him extremely busy. He loves to travel with his family, loves to do things for the community, and he is a huge history buff. He enjoys watching the history channel.
“When you are a funeral director, your life isn't really your own. The hours are unpredictable and you have to have a licensed funeral director cover for you if you want to go away for the weekend," he says. "But I don't mind. I love what I do and I am doing exactly what I want to do.”
