Michael Hart, who owns and operates Hart Funeral Home of Corbin along with his wife, Ty, has seen the business change since first getting his start in the late 1960’s. He recalls going to the train depot with his father in the wee hours of the morning as a high schooler, and helping with the retrieval of bodies that had been transported by train so that loved ones could bury them in their hometown. He also recalls working around the clock for many years during the days when local funeral homes were also expected to provide ambulatory services.
Throughout it all, Hart says that his passion for helping people in their moment of need has never waned.
“Last year was 50 years of being a licensed funeral director and embalmer,” Hart explained. “This year, the funeral home has been in operation for 75 years.”
Hart said that his parents inherited what was formerly known as Alwin Funeral Home in 1949, renaming it to Hart Funeral Home when they took over operations. The name Alwin belonged to his grandfather, who opened the original funeral home in 1936. The business changed locations a few times over the years before eventually moving to its current location, 1011 Master Street, in the late 1990’s.
“The only owners have been my mother and father, and then us after it was turned over to me and my wife,” Hart said of the funeral home. “I have worked here since 1967, so nearly 58 years. Pap worked me when I was in high school. I had two brothers, and he said, ‘They can do what they want, but you’re going to work here.’ It’s sort of old school, but it’s the way that people used to do.”
“This is all that I’ve ever done,” Hart continued. “I did my apprenticeship for three years, started in 1970, and got my license in ‘73. I’ve been here ever since.”
As a third generation funeral director, Hart has seen just about everything there is to see when it comes to running a funeral home business in small town Kentucky. When asked about some of the biggest changes that he has witnessed in his long career, he said that modern technology is probably at the top of the list.
“The biggest change recently has been with electronics,” Hart said, explaining that the processes for writing and delivering documents like obituaries and death certificates have changed drastically. Whereas those documents once had to be hand-written and hand-delivered, he said that electronic composition and delivery has expedited the process dramatically.
Hart also mentioned that visitation services tend to look much different now in comparison to years past, saying that it used to be common for visitations to last a couple of days, and were often held inside the home of the deceased, or the home of a relative. In this way, the visitations were treated as a sort of family reunion, where people would travel from all over to come and see friends and family as they said goodbye to their departed kin.
“Families, for whatever reason, have gotten away from that,” Hart said. “They don’t spend as much time with the visitation. It has gone from two days to where now it is often just one day. Sometimes the visitation and the funeral will all be in one day. It is definitely a change from the old school, and I find that interesting.”
Still, as the old saying goes… the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Although Hart has seen many changes when it comes to how the funeral home conducts its business, he said that the emotions that go along with the work have stayed the same, even after all these years.
“It has never gotten easier to deal with those who are experiencing a death in their family,” Hart said. “One might think that over the years it would get easier, but it doesn’t.”
Hart said that living and working in a small town like Corbin means that he is close personally with many of the families who come to his funeral home after the loss of a loved one. For this reason, he said that it can be difficult to not get involved emotionally, because the closeness means that he and his family also feel the hurt.
Hart advised anyone who may be thinking about getting into the funeral home business to do their due diligence in deciding whether or not this is truly the career choice for them. “They would need to find a funeral home that would let them shadow,” he advised. “There is a lot more to this than people might think, and when they actually see what’s involved they’ll have a better idea about whether or not it’s something that they would actually want to do.”
“It’s not for everybody, but for those who feel the calling or the desire to work in a funeral home, it is very satisfying to be able to help somebody,” Hart added.
As for the future, Hart said that he intends to keep up with industry trends and honor his customers’ wishes, as long as it doesn’t involve anything illegal, immoral or unethical. This isn’t anything that he is worried about, though, as he knows that we live in a part of the country where more traditional services are still the norm.
When asked about his own involvement in things moving forward, Hart said, “I have no plans for retirement. My wife and I still work full time. My health is good, so I really have no reason to quit. This is what I’ve always done. It’s what I do every day, and I’ve been blessed to do it.”
To find out more about Hart Funeral Home of Corbin, call them at (606) 528-5311 or visit them online at www.hartfhcorbin.com.
