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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Front & Center: Funeral director Scott Dahl on the business of saying goodbye

Scott Dahl, a managing partner of Hennessey Funeral Homes and Crematory, with his dog Paddy, who also serves a comfort dog for the bereaved. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Michael Guilfoil For The Spokesman-Review

Lots of people recall childhood trips to Disneyland.

But none like Scott Dahl’s.

“My dad had to deliver a casket to a cemetery, so we loaded it into our Suburban, covered it with a cloth and drove 12 hours from northern California down to Anaheim. At lunchtime, we spread our food on top of the casket.

“We didn’t think anything about driving to Disneyland with the deceased in our car,” Dahl said. “It was normal for us.”

Today, Dahl manages the two Hennessey Funeral Home and Crematory locations – North Division and the Spokane Valley – and is a newly elected board member of the Washington State Funeral Directors Association.

During a recent interview, he discussed house calls, Hells Angels and harmonicas.

S-R: Where did you grow up?

Dahl: In Redding, California. My father got involved in the funeral business as a teenager – mowing lawns and doing odd jobs back in the 1960s. After he was discharged from the Navy and started a family, he joined the business as a funeral director, and finally retired two years ago.

S-R: What were your interests in high school?

Dahl: My friends and I made Super-8mm movies – crazy stuff, like a Boy Scout troop going camping and someone gets their head cut off.

S-R: What was your favorite class?

Dahl: Drama.

S-R: Did you have a career in mind?

Dahl: I wanted to be Peter Jennings – a TV newscaster.

S-R: Where did you attend college?

Dahl: Brigham Young University. I got a degree in communications, but took the advertising route and landed a job with a New York agency.

S-R: Then what?

Dahl: Most of the guys I worked with in New York had MBAs. So after a year, I returned to California, got married and worked at the family funeral home to save enough money to attend Northwestern, where I earned a master’s degree in marketing.

S-R: How did you end up back in the funeral business?

Dahl: My first job after grad school was as a sales rep with Batesville Casket Company. When I tired of spending two weeks every month on the road, I went to work for a Cleveland ad agency, and later for a Seattle internet startup. When that company crashed and burned, I decided I wanted something recession-proof, and my family’s California funeral business started looking better and better. So I got my funeral director’s license, and have been at it ever since. I joined Hennessey as managing partner in 2014.

S-R: Did skills learned in advertising transfer to your current job?

Dahl: Sure, because this is like any other business – there’s inventory control, accounts payable, accounts receivable. You need to know how to hire the right people and fire the wrong people.

S-R: Funerals can cost as much as a used car. Are there similarities between the funeral industry and car dealerships?

Dahl: Unfortunately, yes. Just as car dealerships offer hot deals at the end of the month, some funeral homes in our market promote low-end cremations on billboards. But it’s a race to the bottom. And when you drive down the price of a cremation, you also drive down service. One of my BYU professors used to say, “Quality seldom costs as much as it saves,” which is true in this business. Generally speaking, if you spend a little more on a funeral service, you’ll appreciate it more in the long run.

S-R: Did you have a mentor?

Dahl: My dad. He taught me that to be an effective funeral director, you need to be something of a chameleon. If a family is sitting around the table laughing and joking, that gives you permission to join in, because that’s their comfort level. Conversely, if they’re deeply upset, then stick strictly to the business at hand.

S-R: Do family disputes occur?

Dahl: Sometimes. Usually it’s whether to cremate or bury someone, or to go with a wooden casket or metal one. In those cases, I step out of the room and give them a few minutes alone to sort things out.

S-R: Are some times busier than others?

Dahl: Thanksgiving to early March is busiest. People slip and fall. There’s more sickness. People can get depressed around the holidays.

S-R: How has the funeral business evolved since the early ’90s, when you got your license?

Dahl: Respect for the deceased has declined. Back then, motorists would pull over when we’d leave the funeral home in a hearse. We rarely do processions anymore, because people don’t understand what’s happening. Young drivers weave in and out, maybe give you the finger.

S-R: How do you market your business?

Dahl: The most important thing we do is talk about the importance of pre-planning at senior centers and fairs that cater to the over-65 crowd.

S-R: If someone plans their own funeral, do they pay then or is the bill submitted to their heirs at the time of death?

Dahl: Either way. But if you pay in advance, you lock in costs. We recently had a funeral that was pre-purchased in 1986, when the casket was $895. The same casket today would cost three times that.

S-R: Can people make their own caskets?

Dahl: Yes. We don’t require that you purchase a casket here, and there’s no handling fee if a family brings their own. But if it’s purchased elsewhere, we advise folks to be here when it’s delivered, in case it’s damaged.

S-R: What things do people ask to include in their loved one’s casket?

Dahl: Letters and flowers are common. Occasionally we get cowboy boots and hats. One time my dad worked a service for a Hells Angels member, and after the casket was lowered into the grave, other club members dismantled the deceased person’s motorcycle and threw all the parts into the open grave.

S-R: When did the attitude toward cremation change?

Dahl: It started gaining popularity 30 or 40 years ago, mostly driven by cost. Nowadays, as more religions accept cremation, it also reflects a desire to have something more portable, as opposed to putting grandma in a big box.

S-R: How many families choose cremation?

Dahl: In Washington, 75 percent. Here at Hennessey we’re lucky, because we’re about 56 percent. I say “lucky” because full-service funerals obviously generate more revenue than basic cremations.

S-R: To what do you attribute your lower rate of cremations?

Dahl: We’re an all-faiths funeral home. But for decades we’ve served the Catholic community, and they’re typically more traditional in their final goodbye.

S-R: You attended BYU. Are you Mormon?

Dahl: I am LDS, correct.

S-R: Is that awkward – managing a funeral home favored by Catholics?

Dahl: No, because I make sure we always have Catholic funeral directors and helpers available.

S-R: What’s your typical workday?

Dahl: I start with a staff meeting, where we discuss the deaths that came in the night before, and I’ll assign those to one of my five funeral directors. Then we discuss staffing for services. Getting the cars gassed up and cleaned is important, too, because our business is all about presentation.

S-R: What do like most about your job?

Dahl: The stories families tell us about their deceased relatives.

S-R: What do you like least?

Dahl: The odd hours. We’re available 24-7. One time years ago, I went on seven removal calls between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and still had to be at work at 8 a.m. Fortunately, I don’t do that anymore.

S-R: What has this business taught you?

Dahl: That life is short.

S-R: Does that occasionally inspire gallows humor?

Dahl: Sure. If someone says to one of my employees, “Good to see you,” he replies, “It’s always better to be seen than viewed.”

S-R: When people discover what you do, what do they ask?

Dahl: How long it takes to cremate someone?

S-R: How long?

Dahl: Usually about three hours, plus another half-day to process the remains.

S-R: What practical advice do you offer families before a funeral service?

Dahl: Don’t have an open mic. Determine who will speak, then limit them to three minutes each. Otherwise, it can go on for 90 minutes, and then we’re late to the cemetery.

S-R: How can people of meager means save money?

Dahl: It’s important to have a service – to say goodbye and have closure – but they don’t have to hold it here. Plan it yourself, and have it at a park or a church.

S-R: What’s the career outlook?

Dahl: As long as the human mortality rate stays at 100 percent, the funeral industry will do well. My problem is finding qualified funeral directors. But people need to know what they’re getting into. One fellow came in last year dressed like someone from “The Munsters.” I asked him, “Why are you dressed like that?” He said, “I thought you all dressed this way.”

S-R: How much do funeral directors earn?

Dahl: In this area, they start at $42,000 to $45,000 a year. It’s a great second career, because families are more comfortable with older funeral directors.

S-R: What qualities do you look for in applicants?

Dahl: People who are clean cut, good listeners, and have their funeral director license.

S-R: Any changes ahead for your company?

Dahl: We’ve rebranded our Valley business to include receptions – wedding parties and baby showers. We also host an annual Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Hispanic celebration, with a mariachi band, face painting and piñatas.

S-R: What is your secret talent?

Dahl: I can play the harmonica – two songs.

S-R: Guilty pleasure?

Dahl: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

S-R: What would you change about yourself?

Dahl: I tell people hair is overrated, but I’d be much happier if I had mine.

S-R: About that trip to Disneyland – could someone haul an occupied casket cross-state in the family Suburban today?

Dahl: Yes, except now everyone has to wear a seat belt. Back then, the only thing tied down was the casket. (laugh)

Writer Michael Guilfoil can be contacted at mguilfoil@comcast.net.