I worked as a Licensed Embalmer & Funeral Director for well over a thousand deaths. I decided on this as a career when I was 14 years old for several reasons. I was interested in Egyptology & Mummification and then I picked up a book on Careers in the school library that discussed the fact that with death always being inevitable there would always be a need for those that would or could handle the disposition of the dead. It also discussed the counseling that could be given to the bereaved. I also at that time had two funeral homes on my paper route. I liked the promise of job security and the fact that I would never be unemployed. I made up my mind then and there that this is what I wanted to do and that I wanted to own my own Mortuary. I went to a college that offered all the required courses to become licensed in the business. Then I served a two year apprentiship under a licenced Embalmer before taking state exams. I enjoyed the career very much for the time I was in it and felt a real part of the community in which I lived. There is no humour in death and yet there were incidents and situations that provided quite a bit of humour and laffs. I made a good living but could never see myself acquiring enough capital to buy my own business while working for some one else. I went back to college and got a degree in Finance while in my 30's and worked the rest of my life until I retired at age 58 in Sales & Sales Management.