A celebration of life
Passing on the reigns of her father’s undertaking business, she has found her calling.
Henriette Lamprecht – She was in grade 10 when her father started a funeral business. During school holidays she would do needlework for the business and so from a very early age, it became a part of Jana Weyers’ life.
After school, she went to study in a vastly different direction but with her return in 2007, her father eventually started to hand her the reigns.
She recently realised she didn’t choose it, but it chose her – it’s her calling, says Jana.
Every case is unique and she wouldn’t say she has a winning recipe as it would sound practised, but with every funeral, she does what she has to.
“I place myself in the family’s shoes and feel and unite with them in their grief and hurt. Within a matter of minutes, I’m crying with them!”
But that is just the caring person she is and that is what it’s all about. She can have empathy and sympathy with the family and really carry their feelings and wishes in her heart, she explains.
The most difficult part is always the burial of children, big or small, because it's just against the laws of nature, Jana admits.
“Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children.”
Close family and people from your inner circle are also difficult, and you know what has to be done and there is no one else to do it.
Every culture has its traditions, ideas, and habits when it comes to the last homage to a loved one and it is her job to respect and execute that.
“I always say a funeral is actually a service of a community. Apart from all the services that undertakers offer, various other people are also involved. From the florist for the wreaths, the caterers for the gathering afterward to some people having T-shirts printed, we are all involved.”
People often get the idea that because it is such an emotional job, everything always goes according to plan.
But, Jana admits, there are daily challenges like a stock shortage or problems with human resources - it still is a business that needs to be managed.
“Just because one gets so emotionally involved, it makes the satisfaction at the end of a service so much greater. When a family member contacts you afterward to say, ‘Thank you for all that you have done, I don’t know how I would have coped without you’, my heart pumps chocolates, even if I only did my job!”
The most important part of her job is to give the family the chance to pay homage to their loved ones in a “respectful and beautiful” way.
“There is already so much planning and things that need to be done when a loved one dies. They must know the service is the last thing they need to be worried about.”
Some days are harder than others, says Jana, but not so much that she can’t function.
She has her coping mechanism to see the sadness and pain, not as a huge loss, but as a relocation full of celebration - to celebrate the loved one’s life, and to remember the good.
The funeral business is mostly run by men who can definitely also be empathetic.
“As women, we maybe approach it more softly, but I think it is more about personality than sex.” - [email protected]
After school, she went to study in a vastly different direction but with her return in 2007, her father eventually started to hand her the reigns.
She recently realised she didn’t choose it, but it chose her – it’s her calling, says Jana.
Every case is unique and she wouldn’t say she has a winning recipe as it would sound practised, but with every funeral, she does what she has to.
“I place myself in the family’s shoes and feel and unite with them in their grief and hurt. Within a matter of minutes, I’m crying with them!”
But that is just the caring person she is and that is what it’s all about. She can have empathy and sympathy with the family and really carry their feelings and wishes in her heart, she explains.
The most difficult part is always the burial of children, big or small, because it's just against the laws of nature, Jana admits.
“Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children.”
Close family and people from your inner circle are also difficult, and you know what has to be done and there is no one else to do it.
Every culture has its traditions, ideas, and habits when it comes to the last homage to a loved one and it is her job to respect and execute that.
“I always say a funeral is actually a service of a community. Apart from all the services that undertakers offer, various other people are also involved. From the florist for the wreaths, the caterers for the gathering afterward to some people having T-shirts printed, we are all involved.”
People often get the idea that because it is such an emotional job, everything always goes according to plan.
But, Jana admits, there are daily challenges like a stock shortage or problems with human resources - it still is a business that needs to be managed.
“Just because one gets so emotionally involved, it makes the satisfaction at the end of a service so much greater. When a family member contacts you afterward to say, ‘Thank you for all that you have done, I don’t know how I would have coped without you’, my heart pumps chocolates, even if I only did my job!”
The most important part of her job is to give the family the chance to pay homage to their loved ones in a “respectful and beautiful” way.
“There is already so much planning and things that need to be done when a loved one dies. They must know the service is the last thing they need to be worried about.”
Some days are harder than others, says Jana, but not so much that she can’t function.
She has her coping mechanism to see the sadness and pain, not as a huge loss, but as a relocation full of celebration - to celebrate the loved one’s life, and to remember the good.
The funeral business is mostly run by men who can definitely also be empathetic.
“As women, we maybe approach it more softly, but I think it is more about personality than sex.” - [email protected]
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