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Erin Jennings
Funeral Services professional
I didn't choose this profession. It chose me. I loved it right away and I've never looked back.
Erin Jennings
Erin Jennings is the first woman in the Atlantic Provinces to own a funeral home that wasn't inherited as a family business. "To me, it's a calling; very much like a clergy or a doctor," says the 35-year old owner of the J. Albert Walker Funeral Home in Spryfield. "I didn't choose this profession. It chose me," she says. "I loved it right away and I've never looked back."
Erin's first experience with the funeral service profession was selling burial plots. Her colleagues commended her easy, reassuring approach with clients. Erin then began volunteering at a funeral home and enrolled in the Funeral Services program at NSCC.
Knowing that she's helping people through difficult times is the most fulfilling part of Erin's work. Treating each individual and each family as if they were her own is Erin's trademark. "It's a great feeling when I can help someone get through the worst thing they'll ever experience in their life," she says. "If I can make that easier in some small way, I'm happy."
Erin can draw on her own experience of loss; her father died at the age of 59. Determined to remember him in her work, she invested her inheritance in the purchase of her own funeral home. "So, all of my work within these four walls is his legacy," says Erin. "I feel like I carry my father around on my shoulder every day and that's what motivates me to do right by the families I serve."
Erin believes that women bring a unique perspective to the industry. "It used to be taboo for a woman to do this, but as more women enter the profession, employers are realizing what an asset we are to this line of work." Erin goes to great lengths to welcome more women into the field. She offers work placements to NSCC students and employs NSCC graduates. In addition, she gives out the Women of Excellence Funeral Service Award at the annual graduation banquet. "I'm really proud of the women in this industry and I want to support them."
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