Siobhan’s journey in Mortuary Science

SiobhΡn Regan

Siobhan’s journey into mortuary science


A trip to Chicago has led to a life changing move and career for Kiltimagh’s SiobhΡn Regan

Maria Commins

WHAT do you want to be when you grow up? This is a common question asked in many classrooms, around the country. The answers will always vary but rewind the clock back to the nineties and there were just four girls in our national school class in Barnacarroll school, located just off the N17 road between Knock and Claremorris. We spent a precious eight years there, between 1993 and 2001.
Since leaving school, two of us have gone on to become nurses, one is in business, the other however, has chosen an unconventional, completely un-stereotypical career path. SiobhΡn Regan is living in Chicago and has just completed studying Mortuary Science in Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling, Illinois.
SiobhΡn hails from Cuiltibo, three miles from Kiltimagh and in the parish of Claremorris. She is the second youngest out of a family of seven and spoke to The Mayo News about her unusual choice of career, what it’s like living Stateside and what she misses most about being away from the emerald isle.
“I love living in Chicago. There is something here for everyone. While the winters may be brutal, the summers are phenomenal with festivals in different neighbourhoods every weekend. The beaches are packed. To walk, run or cycle along the lakeshore is beautiful.
In Chicago, they don’t hold back on celebrations for St Patrick’s Day. The Chicago river is dyed green, the beer is even dyed green. Everything is green. Living on the northwest side of the city I’m surrounded by Irish people.  I started working in The Thatch Pub two years where I found myself immersed in the Irish community. It has made it so much easier living away from home.”

Career
SiobhΡn reveals that she always loved science and that this led her on her somewhat unusual career path
“I always loved science and considered myself to be slightly artistic. I wanted something with the balance of the two but I also love helping people and dealing with the public. I had considered science teaching, veterinary, nursing but wasn’t sure so I decided to go to Galway and attend NUIG.
“I obtained a four year bachelor’s degree in Science with a major in Human Anatomy. I figured it would give me some more time to decide on a career. I loved Galway. I was always fascinated by Anatomy and would watch ‘Anatomy for Beginners’ by Gunther von Hagens. I used to joke saying I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. In a way, I am becoming one. Just for the deceased and not the living.
After graduating, SiobhΡn’s brother Neil invited her to spend the summer months in Chicago. She loved the experience and returned again the following October on a twelve month graduate visa, where she needed to find work related to her degree. Getting into the funeral industry is not something she had considered.
“I started working at Smith-Corcoran Funeral Home. It’s a family-run firm owned and operated by Robert J Smith and his son Jay. They own three funeral homes in the Chicago area and took me under their wing in March 2013.
“In January 2014, I took some cremation training run by CANA (Cremation Association of North America) on behalf of the funeral home. Once I became certified as a crematory operator, I began performing cremations at the Smith’s privately owned company crematory. I certainly believe cremation is the way of the future.
SiobhΡn began school in March 2014 at Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Wheeling, Illinois. It is known as the Harvard of mortuary sciences. There, her journey of becoming a funeral director/embalmer began. SiobhΡn thinks her career path is a calling.
“It is not for everyone but as I’ve been told ‘someone’s got to do it’. and I’m proud to say that someone is me,” she exclaims

Home
For all the excitement of living in the Windy City and pursuing a novel career, SiobhΡn does miss home at times, including her mother’s cooking.
“It’s terrible to say I rarely cook for myself over here. I miss my family, it’s been almost two years since I’ve seen most of them. It is hard being away for Christmas, birthdays and family events. Luckily I have my brother Neil here in Chicago and my mother and sisters Caitriona and Aoibhe have been over to visit me. I miss my friends too. I look forward to seeing everyone when I head home next.”
However, when she finishes her course, SiobhΡn sees herself remaining in Chicago in the near future.
“I have great friends here. I have a good Irish community around me and it is a great city in which to be working in the funeral industry. I would like to do my apprenticeship here and, once licensed, work as a director here for another couple of years, preferably with a family- run company that deals with Irish families. I think it is good to stay close to my roots. I don’t want to work for a corporation, it wouldn’t be as personal as it would be with a family-run firm. I see my future in America, though I’m not saying I’ll never return home to Ireland. Home is where the heart is. “I want to be involved with all aspects of the business from working in the preparation room, making the deceased presentable for their loved ones, to making arrangements with the family in the office and directing the funeral itself. By being involved in everything you have a much more personal relationship with the families you’re serving.
SiobhΡn adds that she would like to become experienced in the restorative art side of the business. This is almost like cosmetic surgery for the deceased. She explains that it is the role of an embalmer to to recreate natural form and make the person look as they did before they died following an accident where injuries can be severe and adds that while this can be very complex and time consuming, allowing the family of a deceased to can view the body and have an open coffin can be very important.
“It confirms the reality of the death and allows for a final farewell with a pleasant memory picture,” she said.

Irish connection
Working in the funeral industry can be a daunting task at times, but SiobhΡn also has some memorable moments, and one in particular has to do with her Irish connections.
“I met a family while working at the funeral home in August 2013. The deceased was a man from Achill. His wife was from County Cork. They had six children.
“I was working at the wake and I began talking to his wife about Ireland and her family. We had a great chat and she introduced me to her kids. I got on so well with the family I came into work the next day and went out on the funeral to the church and cemetery.
“A little over a year later, I was sitting in class at school and this family entered my head out of nowhere. I began to wonder about the deceased man’s wife and how she was. That very same day, I received a text from my boss to say she had passed away and the family requested I work the wake and help with the funeral.
“It was a strange coincidence but I was overwhelmed that the family remembered me and wanted me to be involved with their mother’s funeral as I was with their father’s. Entering the chapel to express my condolences to the children, I was greeted with open arms and words of kindness of how much their mother liked me. I still have her memorial card to this day. It’s something I will never forget. In anything job, nothing beats that warmth, kindness and appreciation.”
So, what advice would SiobhΡn have for anybody considering pursuing a similar career.
“I believe it is a calling. But I say don’t be afraid to answer that call and don’t be afraid if you’re female and you wish to pursue this career. No longer is the image of a middle aged man with an overcoat a reliable one. You need strength in body, mind and stomach. If you have a weak stomach, it’s probably not the job for you. There is skill involved in learning embalming but, on the other end of the spectrum, you need compassion, warmth and empathy.
“In my class of thirty one students, 14 are female. Maybe it’s just here in America, but a large amount of funeral directors are female of all ages and sizes. Also, the idea of funeral homes being all family owned and passed down from generation to generation is not so common anymore either. Again, out of the thirty one in my class, only nine have family in the business.
“People say well, at least your customers don’t complain. To be honest, it’s more about the living than the dead. You’re there for people when they’re at the toughest time of their life. You help take a weight off their shoulders. You allow for a peaceful goodbye and a celebration of the life their loved one lived.