STAAB POLK IS AN ADVOCATE FOR COLLEGE, PROFESSION
By Pete Rosenbery
Although her family was already in the funeral business, Paula J. Staab Polk was nervous about stepping out from her nursing career to begin taking mortuary science classes in the late 1970s.
However, with encouragement from then-program director George Poston, Staab Polk, a non-traditional student, was able to make the transition into what would be her life’s profession. Staab Polk is the College of Applied Sciences and Arts’ 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and spoke during Honors Day ceremonies April 9.
Staab Polk, who owns Staab Polk Funeral Memorial Home in Chatham, said Poston reassured her that she would be successful; she had dealt with trauma situations as a nurse.
“I was surprised to see how closely aligned the mortuary science classes were with my nursing classes,” Staab Polk said. “It became my passion.”
Staab Polk earned her associate degree in mortuary science and funeral service in 1980; the program is now the only accredited bachelor degree program of its kind in the state.
A former visiting assistant professor and adjunct faculty member, Staab Polk is a member of the mortuary science program's advisory board and the college’s Board of Counselors. She was the first female president of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, and is a featured speaker for several funeral industry-related organizations.
Staab Polk, a third-generation funeral director, started her own funeral home from a converted bowling alley in 2000. She added a crematory in 2001 and a reception center in 2003. The reception center isn’t just for funerals, but has been used for weddings, fundraisers and recently, by a Methodist church for Sunday services while their church is undergoing renovations.
Staab Polk said her father, also a funeral director, wanted each of his seven children to work in the funeral field, but she did not really begin to think about the business as a career until she was in high school. A guidance counselor initially advised her against the profession because “girls aren’t funeral directors.” Staab Polk graduated from St. John’s School of Nursing in 1976; when she came to Carbondale for classes Staab Polk, whose husband and brothers also graduated from the program, had three children. After earning her associate degree, Staab Polk worked in the family’s funeral home and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Illinois College in 1985.
Staab Polk said she found another vocation she enjoyed – teaching. She taught mortuary science and microbiology classes at SIU Carbondale for a semester when one of her former instructors became ill. She brought her fourth child, then about one year old, and stayed in Carbondale Monday through Wednesdays and then returned home the rest of the week.
Staab Polk and Anthony Fleege, SIU Carbondale’s program director, said the number of women entering the mortuary science field is rising. In 2010, there were 27 percent female funeral directors compared to 14 percent in 1990. In SIU’s program, 85 percent of the students are female compared to 60 percent just four years ago. Nationwide, the percentage has also risen from 55 to 65 percent in that same timeframe.
Staab Polk has “been an advocate for not only the program, but women in funeral service,” since she graduated from SIU, Fleege said.
“She has served on the MSFS advisory board for countless years and now sits on the college advisory board. She was the first female president of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association and serves on state and national boards in the funeral service profession,” he said. “She dedicates her time, resources and energy to spread the word how great our profession is, how SIU is her alma mater and how women can succeed in funeral service. She continues to be a beacon of light and new ideas for the funeral service profession. We are proud, as a program and a university, to have Paula so closely associated with our program.”
Working with the program and students is rewarding, Staab Polk said. She is able to take the practical application of what funeral directors and funeral homes are providing to the community and teach students, but also assist in integrating it into the curriculum to make students much more aware and marketable, she said. Staab Polk is also a certified funeral celebrant; if a family wants a service but does not know clergy, she is able to speak as the facilitator.
Staab Polk advocated introducing cremation courses into SIU program’s curriculum; the courses will begin in fall 2016. She said in central Illinois, for example, 50 to 70 percent of client families are choosing cremation over traditional funeral ceremonies.
Students need to know that “grief shared is grief diminished,” Staab Polk said. It is important to use listening skills, which she acquired as a nurse and funeral director, in dealing with families.
“The profession is based on relationship building. You are helping people in one of the most difficult situations in their life,” she said. “You are also a catalyst in their grief work and helping them make a transition in a family and community role. It’s a lot of responsibility.”
Staab Polk said she was surprised and honored to receive the distinguished alumni honor.
At Honors Day Staab Polk shared a poem, “The Dash,” by Linda Ellis. She discussed the importance of making the best use of the time, the dash, between the year that a person is born and when they die. She said it is important to know yourself and be grateful to the people who “helped you become the person you are.”