Todd Van Beck has been featured
by the International
Cemetery and Funeral Association in a multipart article.
The article has been reprinted with permission.
A
Born Undertaker
interview by Susan Loving, managing
editor, ICFM
Todd W. Van Beck is one of the best
known and most well regarded educators, writers and speakers
in the funeral profession. His book, "Winning Ways,"
and the articles he frequently contributes to trade magazines
illustrate Van Beck's seemingly limitless ability to come
up with simple yet innovative ways to improve a funeral home
and his knack for explaining good business practices in a
down-to-earth, step-by-step way.
Want to feel
good about the funeral profession? Go to a seminar where Todd
Van Beck is speaking. You'll laugh, you'll cry and most important,
you'll learn. His style is humorous and self-deprecating,
his language often "colorful," but what always shines
through is his passion for and belief in the importance of
funeral service.
During a recent trip to speak at a state funeral directors'
convention, Van Beck spent several hours talking to ICFM about
his life and career and giving his opinions on a wide variety
of topics, including today's "Entertainment Tonight"
funerals, industry critics, the key to success in the funeral
business, the funeral vs. the cemetery side of the business,
the increase in the number of women in funeral service and
personalization.
But before the commentary comes the background -- how Van
Beck got into funeral service, the jobs he's had and what
he's learned from them. These are the stories he tells on
himself, the ones that make him seem approachable to even
the most neophyte funeral director attending his or her first
educational seminar.
Unlike many in the funeral and cemetery business, Van Beck
was not born into it -- at least not in the sense of having
had parents who were funeral directors. But perhaps the most
telling words uttered by a man of many, many words, the ones
that should comprise the title of his autobiography, should
he decide to write one, are these: "I came out of the
womb an undertaker."
Continue
on to Next section
or Use the following links to continue reading this article:
- Part
1: Growing Up Across the Street from the Funeral Home
As a young boy in Avoca, Iowa, Todd Van Beck becomes fascinated
by the funeral home across the street. Not allowed to
hang around the local funeral home, he finds creative
ways to learn about the profession.
- Part
1 continued: Living and working at a funeral home;
embalming a pig for the high school science fair; the
transforming experience of mortuary college.
The
page links to the article pages have been modified to use
this site's navigation and Mr. VanBeck's outdated contact information
has been removed. The article text is copyrighted by
ICFA, 2003. |