Dan M. Meagher is the founder and operator of Funeral Director's Service. A 39-year funeral professional, Dan lectures to funeral groups on embalming and restorative art. As a clinical instructor in embalming, Dan has taught many students the importance of proper work ethics and clinical skills.
Dan is a graduate of Indiana College of Mortuary Science, class of 1971. As a first generation funeral director, Dan started in a small town funeral home that was in its third generation of family ownership. The volume was small, but the history and experience were invaluable. To a 14 year old, working everyday after school, weekends and nights, it was getting into his blood, (as anybody in this business would understand). Of course, the most exciting part was the ambulance work. “It’s still amazing today, that I could get out of bed so easy, all hours of the night, to take those runs, when now I have a hard time dragging out after sleeping 8 hours.”
Rich history of Funeral Service
The firm was rich with the old equipment of past years (what we would now call antiques). The older 2nd generation owner, in his 70s then, was there every day. He had attended mortuary school in Indianapolis, (then on Capital Avenue, and only having to go for like 6 weeks), was full of history and stories. This kind of education you couldn’t get in mortuary school. Some of the things I remember most was exploring the old storage barn and finding old embalming equipment that was used in the home, or the wicker basket the bodies were carried in, looking through the old record books from the 1800s, seeing the script type handwriting, the charges for a horse-drawn hearse, and especially the causes of death. Many death causes were listed as consumption, and I remember at the
time, wondered why so many people died of drinking problems. Later, when attending mortuary school, I found out consumption was just another name for TB.
Starting with Good Work Practices Will Make a Difference
Through the Years
The 3rd generation owner, who was the age of my father, was the main operator and the one I worked with and learned the business from. His embalming techniques were my first exposure to good work practices and I continue today to use many of his approaches. It was during this time that I knew I wanted to become an embalmer, but I wasn’t much interested in the funeralization part.
A Trip To The Big City
We had a death call in the city, and came to a trade embalmer’s facility, and from then on, I knew what I wanted. From that point, I was out to learn everything from everybody, about embalming techniques. Everyone had their way or preference, all different, but still each getting the results. Experience from as many good embalmers with as many different cases as possible is the key.
At one time, I was working for four firms in three towns, going to which ever was busy at the time and gaining tons of experience. I served my apprenticeship in 1968, and started mortuary school in 1969 in Louisville, but I didn’t like the school, so I elected to wait and attend Indiana College of Mortuary Science in 1970, graduating class of 1971. While attending mortuary school, I worked as a student for a large firm, trying to spend most of my time in the prep room. My nights off, I went on embalming calls with the trade embalmer instructors. After mortuary school, the job market was poor for embalmers, so I had to go into other areas, which ended up being a great link to my mortuary education.
Medical Education & Teaching
Working as a Nationally Certified EMT in 1971, for the world's largest hospital-based ambulance service, with hundreds of runs daily, I got to see first-hand the illnesses and trauma that I read about in mortuary school, and later had to deal with as an embalmer. In March 1973, I graduated from the first Paramedic Class in the state, working at this job I began to enjoy the clinical teaching it allowed and began to lecture and teach hands-on classes. Attending nursing school in 1978, and teaching adult medical education for IVTC College, I knew I wanted to teach embalming in a clinical setting.
In 1985, I founded Funeral Director’s Service, and began a self-employment career, doing the two best things I enjoyed, embalming and teaching. In 1987 I became an instructor in clinical embalming and began to lecture for funeral personal. In 2001, I became a state certified death investigator and actively work as a Deputy Coroner today. Enjoying your work makes all the difference in life.