Brighouse Funeral Director reaches 30 years of service

A Funeral Director working in Brighouse has been recognised for reaching a professional milestone.
Jared BarkerJared Barker
Jared Barker

Jared Barker, who works at Co-op Funeralcare on Huddersfield Road, has been employed by the company for 30 years this month.

Over the last 30 years, Jared has worked as a Funeral Services Operative, a Funeral Arranger and an Embalmer, and progressed to become a Hub Manager – but his passion for helping people brought him back to the Funeral Director role where he gets the most job satisfaction.

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Jared’s career in the funeral industry began when he was 18 and working as a barman. His parents were pressuring him to find a more fulfilling job so he attended a jobs fair at a local library.

He said: “There was a man at the fair who said whatever job I wanted to do, he would be able to get me some work experience. I wanted to give him a challenge so I said I wanted to work at a funeral home, thinking he would never get me a placement, and I would be able to tell my parents that I’d tried to get a job.

“To my surprise, I got a phone call a few days later telling me my placement was lined up and that I started on Monday!”

After completing 18 months of a Youth Training Scheme (like an apprenticeship) Jared was employed permanently. Working in funeral homes across West Yorkshire, he would support the team with the logistics of preparing for a funeral. He continued to progress through on the job training and became a Funeral Director in the mid-1990s.

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Since then, Jared has been a pillar of the community, and he estimates that he’s conducted more than 5,000 funerals over the years. Often, he has supported different generations of the same family over many years.

“It’s absolutely the people and the community that have kept me interested in the job over the last 30 years. I really do want to be able to help people and make a difference at a time when they need it the most," he said.

"All days are different because no two funerals and no two people are the same. The best funerals are when you’ve been able to get to know the family and hear all their stories about their loved one, so you can tailor the service to the deceased to give them the best send-off. And working on the funeral of someone who is a friend is a very high privilege.”

Denise Melhuish, Funeral Services Manager for the region, said: “Jared is an invaluable asset to our business. The passion he has for serving his families and their loved ones in our care is as strong 30 years on as it was at the beginning of his career.

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"Within our wider team Jared is known for his attention to detail, his pride in his role and his dedication to supporting his team in training and upskilling. Jared is one of a very few people who can do every role from driving the hearse to managing a team, but it is as a Funeral Director where he shines and I feel extremely lucky to work with him.”

To anyone thinking of joining the funeral industry themselves, Jared said: “This truly is a vocation. It’s not a 9-5 job and you must be really committed to your role as every day is different. You’ve got to roll your sleeves up, get stuck in and prepare to work unsociable hours. But the job satisfaction you get in return is worth it. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

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