Jan 10, 2018
“I grew up watching my dad comforting families who were grieving and
always knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps.”
“My grandmother died when I was young and the funeral director was
so kind to me when I was mourning, it made me want to grow up to be one.”
“I took a career aptitude test and it said this was what I was meant
to do.”
“I just really enjoy helping people.”
We love hearing all of the different reasons why someone chooses to become a funeral director. They are a unique patchwork of stories that all share a common thread: the desire to help and serve others. At ASD, we’ve always believed it takes a special type of person to seek out this vocation. A person who must be strong enough to maintain complete composure in the face of tragedy, yet strong enough to provide comfort and peace to those who are hurting. For these reason, we believe it is essential to support those who are driven to become directors and nurture their passion for funeral service.
Empowering the next generation of funeral professionals is very close to our hearts here at ASD. The Czachor family and ASD team have been a part of the funeral service community for more than 45 years. We are passionate about investing in our profession’s future. In 2017, ASD made a 5-year pledge to support the Funeral Service Foundation in its mission to educate and encourage future funeral directors by providing scholarships and opportunities for students. We are committed to sharing the foundation’s message and promoting the academic success of those interested in pursing a career in mortuary science.
For the past three years, we have hosted tours and lectures at our office for students in the mortuary science program at Mercer County Community College. We look forward to this visit every year as it gives us a chance to hear fresh stories from aspiring directors. Many students are also eager to
hear about how ASD and the ASD Mobile app can help them in their future endeavors.
Interview With Aspiring Funeral Director, Montana Gabriele
ASD recently had an opportunity to interview Mortuary Science Student, Montana Gabriele, who is currently studying at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Montana plans to later transfer to Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science where she will earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Funeral Service. As part of her curriculum, Montana was assigned a project that required her to research a business product or service she felt would be beneficial in her future career. We were thrilled when we learned Montana had selected ASD for her assignment.
Montana Gabriele
“The purpose of my project was to find a technology that would be useful in my future career, so I thought that as a funeral director having an answering service is one of the most helpful things I could have,” Montana explained. “The reason I chose ASD specifically is partly because it was a
company that was already familiar to me, and partly because of your award winning mobile app.”
Montana used her project as an opportunity to become familiarized with the functionality of the
ASD Mobile app. She spent time reading ASD’s blog, watching our tutorial videos and reading reviews of ASD Mobile in the Apple and Google Play Store. This provided an opportunity for Montana to discover how she and her classmates might use the app in the future as a funeral director.
“The ASD app seemed like the perfect technology to write about and has so many features. I started my research by going on to ASD’s website and reading around the different pages to find out exactly what ASD offers,” Montana stated. “I then looked at the page that showed all of the mobile apps features to learn more about how it worked, including watching the video provided to see just how simple the app is to use. After that, I began looking into the awards that the company has won for the app and also looking at reviews on various websites so that I could read testimony from actual users.”
Through her research, Montana was able to learn about many of ASD’s app features, including MobileFH®, Solicitor Shield™, First Call Connect® and FuneralSync™.
“I think that the app has so many great features and the fact that ASD has patented technologies on their app really makes you guys stand out from the rest,”
she stated.
The ASD Brochure
Montana Created For Her Project
While Montana still has several more years of studying ahead of her before becoming a licensed funeral director, we have no doubt the sharp intellect and thirst for knowledge she possesses will serve her well in her chosen career field.
“Since I am not yet working in the funeral service field, I’m not an expert on all of the things that go on in the daily life of a funeral director so explaining how it could be useful got a little tricky at times because that meant that I had to base it solely on research and not personal experience,”
Montana explained. “On the other hand, it’s great to know that something like this exists to help me when I do start my career in the near future!”
