The day I saw the “help wanted” ad for the position of office manager at a local funeral home, my life changed.

Having lived in the area for many years, I was familiar with Parthemore Funeral Home before applying. My family had used the funeral home for services in the past; and through sports, community activities, and mutual friends, I got to know some of the Parthemores outside of the office so making the decision to apply for the job was easy.

There is no “routine” workday at the funeral home. When the phone lines open at 9AM, anything goes. My day is often dictated by the calls I receive. These callers range from grieving family members, to religious figures, to medical/emergency personnel, to news reporters, to concerned members of the community, to solicitors, and so on. Although the phone could ring anywhere between fifteen to fifty times a day, I strive to give each caller my undivided attention and assistance.

Similar to my role of fielding incoming calls, I’m typically the one responsible for answering the doorbell. Although we set appointment times with families, there are many people who stop by unannounced throughout the day. The visitor will ring the doorbell, which actually buzzes our phone system, and from there I am able to converse with the individual through the intercom. Since our offices are on the second floor, it might take me a minute to come down and unlock the door. If you take notice, I’m always armed with my sidekick (the cordless phone), since the phone has a propensity to ring when I’m in the middle of something. As you can imagine, some days I feel as though I’m constantly going up and down the stairs. However, since the candy basket has Tootsie Rolls among its choices, I really depend on all those steps!

In between answering doorbells and phone calls, I take care of some standard tasks to keep our files up to speed. I’m often taking care of some form of data entry, from updating at-need and pre-need files, to recording flowers received for services, or maybe preparing certain information for death certificates. I am tasked with preparing prayer cards and memorial folders for services we hold, customizing register books, and making laminated copies of the obituary for families. I also organize and assemble our Final Arrangements binder, which we distribute to every family we serve. All the while, I try my best to maintain our stock of office supplies. If this is about to put you to sleep, come over for a cup of coffee – I’m in charge of keeping the Keurig (coffee maker) up and running too! Some mornings, I bet my co-workers would argue that this is my most important role.

The prehistoric IBM/Lexmark typewriter still sits behind me, though it doesn’t get used too often. Up until last June, all death certificates were hand-typed on the good ole typewriter. The Department of Health just recently implemented an online site for death certificate preparation, and this has certainly been a positive development. The new way of obtaining and filling out death certificates has cut back on paperwork, gas miles, and headaches.

Aside from my computer and the typewriter, I’m also tasked with operating the fax machine and copier. Come to think of it, I’d consider myself “certified” in tackling paper jams from the copier, cleaning the slit glass on the copier bed, and determining when the problem needs to be addressed by a qualified professional. I don’t like to schedule service calls, but when yelling unsavory things to the copier fails, what other options are left?!

To sum things up: I love my job. I’m not someone who enjoys “sitting around,” and this position hardly allows time for that. My office is on the second floor, and all the windows allow me to see up and down the main drag. If you’re driving down Bridge Street in New Cumberland any time soon, be sure to beep when you drive by – if I’m near the window (and not in the middle of something), you’ll likely get a wave!

I take pride in my job, and I feel very blessed that the role of Office Manager for Parthemore Funeral Home has been bestowed to me.

-Yvonne Sersch is the Office Manager at Parthemore Funeral Homes.