Mortuary Science Undergrad Assists in Grandmother's Embalming

When a loved one dies, every person has their own special way of grieving: most cry, some paint or busy themselves with menial house work, or even buy expensive sports cars. For 22-year-old Alice Whitaker, upon the death of her grandmother in June 2010, there was only one way to relieve the pain: to assist in the embalming and preparation of her grandmother for the funeral.

“She could be the most aggravating person, but there was just something about her that you loved,” says the redheaded from across her kitchen table, nodding slowly as she recounts her late namesake, Alice May Adams Latham. “I don’t have many childhood memories that don’t involve her.”

A student at Holmes Community College in Jackson, MS, Alice Whitaker is pursuing her Associates Degree in Mortuary Science. Under the supervision of Trey Sebrell of Sebrell Funeral Home, Alice has helped successfully embalm and dress dozens of cadavers in the last two years of her internship.

Alice fights to find the right words to explain what it is that fascinates her about her chosen profession, when the thought of dead bodies and formaldehyde typically repulses most people. “Being able to let people see their loves ones look good—peaceful—especially when they’ve been sick, it warms your heart.”

When most children were out riding bikes and playing in sprinklers, Alice Whitaker was busy studying human anatomy. With every funeral she went to—starting at age nine, with the death of a grandfather—Alice insisted on being toured around the hosting funeral homes and embalming rooms. Embalming eventually became not only a set career goal, but a positive outlet for the grief she still struggles with.

Alice Latham, her last remaining grandparent, struggled with pancreatic cancer for many years—the last six months of her life spend in a hospital under heavy sedation, attached to feeding tubes and unable to speak.

“It was more disturbing seeing her in the hospital bed than it ever was to assist in her embalming,” she admits with a shrug.

At the beginning of her internship with Sebrell Funeral Home in the fall of 2009, Alice was the sole employee to a blossoming business. Even two years—and several more employees—later, Alice assists Trey Sebrell in every embalming and dressing of a body, carrying the massive oak caskets up and down flights of stairs, managing funerals, and picking up cadavers at any hour of the night.

Her eyes alight with mischief, Alice coos, “I’ll never be out of a job; there are always dead people!”

Video here.