Albany mortician Jay Whiting says a calling led him into the funeral service business

ALBANY — Local Kimbrell-Stern mortician Jay Whiting, who began working in the business right out of high school, says it was a calling that led him to go into the death services industry.

According to Whiting, it was actually high school tragedy, which set him on the path.

Stephen Daniel Everett, 16, and Stephen Key Carter, 17, both students at Westover High School, were killed in an accident in June of 1991 on County Road 228 about four miles from Albany.

“Well, it was right after Stephen and Stephen died that I knew I wanted to be a mortician,” Whiting said. “My dad had a desk job working for Lincoln National Life Insurance and he would always ask me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I would always tell him, ‘Never what you do.’ I never wanted that. So, when Stephen and Stephen got killed and I saw the funeral directors, that was when I decided that was what I wanted to do.

“I applied for the job the next year, but it took one more year for someone to leave the position so I could get the job. But, that accident was really what inspired me to go into it.”

According to officials with the State Patrol at the time, both Everett and Carter were riding dirt bikes along the dark road when they collided. Neither of the motorcycles had headlights and neither teen was wearing a helmet.

“I was at the same party that Stephen Carter was at,” Whiting said. “I remember him saying that this was ‘the best birthday of his life.’ Two hours later, he was dead.”

After the accident, Whiting got a job with Kimbrell-Stern before attending mortuary school.

“I worked for three years at Kimbrell-Stern and then went to mortuary school,” Whiting said. “I attended Gupton Jones Mortuary School in Atlanta. It is one of only about five mortuary schools in the country. I stayed there and became head embalmer for Atlanta Embalming Service for six years, doing 1,200 bodies a year. Eventually, I got tired of Atlanta. I guess for you to have a successful career in this business you need to be at home where people know you.

“They didn’t know me in Atlanta. I couldn’t relate to them. I couldn’t bring business in. Nobody called the business because they knew me personally and I didn’t like the traffic. Also, there was no satisfaction in it. Everyone was just a number and I was just a number to them. So, I came back to Albany and this January was 23 years that I have been doing this.”

According to Whiting, he was the first person in his family to be a mortician.

“I was the first one in my family to do it,” Whiting said. “Most funeral homes are family businesses. Probably 80 percent of the people I graduated with at mortuary college had families that owned funeral homes. It is not a career most people pick.”

Whiting admits that the job is sometimes sad, but a quality that did not serve him well in school has actually helped him to be successful.

“You know, I could never pay attention in school,” Whiting said. “I don’t know what it was, but I always had trouble. For me, for the first time in my life, that lack of attention has benefited me. What I mean is, I can tune out the sadness or the remorse about the loss of life that I am confronted with. You feel for the people, you have to. You have to have a heart to be in the business, but you can’t bring your work home with you. I try to distance myself by making only necessary eye contact with whoever I am working on. I keep my eyes on my worksheet as much as possible.

“You would think it would be harder to work on someone you know rather than a stranger, but I make extra efforts to be there for the family and for that person if I knew them. This job is a calling, I believe that, and because of that, I am inspired to do the best that I can and provide the best service possible for the individual and the family during their time of grief.”