Ortonville-Robert Wilk makes a living with the dead.
Wilk is the funeral director and owner of Sherman-Wilk Funeral Home, 135 South St. in Ortonville.
It was ‘just curiosity? that led Wilk, 59, to his profession.
While other students considered jobs as teachers or engineers, Wilk had another occupation in mind.
‘I was in high school, I got curious,? says Wilk.
After graduation, Wilk decided to pursue a degree at Wayne State University and become licensed in mortuary science.
‘I was 17-years-old when I started working in funeral homes in 1963,? Wilk says ‘I almost grew up on it.?
Wilk didn’t give much thought to death back when he was starting out. ‘As you get older, that changes,? says Wilk.
Wilk spent some time working in a mortuary in Vietnam, during the Vietnam war, as an I.D. (identification) specialist.
There, he would take fingerprints, toe prints, examine teeth and make a chart of identifying marks on the body. Then Wilk would pass the information to an anthropologist he was working with who would try to identify the body.
Compared to some alternative assignments, ‘it was actually kind of a nice job to have,? says Wilk.
Wilk estimates he worked with 30-60 bodies each day in Vietnam.
In comparison, at his Ortonville funeral home Wilk had 78 funerals in all of 2005.
December is always a busy month, says Wilk. He attributes this to people getting depressed about the holidays and the prospect of another long winter. Some, says Wilk, may just give up.
As with many occupations, there is a routine that goes along with being a funeral director. A routine which starts when a life ends.
‘Say somebody dies in the morning,? says Wilk, ‘I get a call from the hospital or the family.?
Wilk’s next move is to go get the body.
‘In the meantime I try to make contact with the family, if contact has not yet been made,? says Wilk
After the body is back at the funeral home, the real work begins’the embalming process. It’s basically just a blood transfusion, says Wilk.
First, an artery and a vein are raised on the deceased. Then a machine is attached to pump embalming fluid into the body, forcing the blood out.
The embalming fluid Wilk uses has the consistency of water, smells a bit like nail polish remover’faintly chemical without being overpowering? and has a red tint to it, which Wilk says is to add some color.
Embalming time varies, but an hour and a half to two hours is about standard, Wilk says.
If the body is being cremated and no visitation will take place, a family may choose to skip the embalming, Wilk says.
Wilk has seen a rise in the incidents of cremation. When he first started work in funeral homes, Wilk estimates less than 1 percent of bodies were cremated. By ten years ago, Wilk estimates those numbers were around 10 percent. Now, says Wilk, about 30 percent of bodies are cremated in Michigan.
Wilk credits the rise in cremations to increased acceptance of the practice by the Catholic church and cremation being the more cost-efficient option.
Wilk says the average funeral costs about $7,000 today.
‘Next I meet with the family and decide what they want to do,? says Wilk.
While dealing with grief on a daily basis may sound like a morbid existence, Wilk says most of the time he is able to separate himself from his work.
A majority of the families Wilk works with have been expecting the death for some time, and have begun to come to terms with it by the time he meets with them.
However, that’s not always the case.
‘Children are always hard,? says Wilk. While much of what he deals with can be set aside, Wilk remembers the kids he’s helped bury. Those situations, though, are few and far between.
‘I think my job is easier than doctor and nurses,? Wilk says. ‘They’re the ones who have to deal with (immediate grief).?
The next thing Wilk does is address the details of death. The cemetery and minister must be contacted, a death notice has to be sent to the paper.
Wilk then gets the body ready for viewing. The deceased is dressed and cosmetics are applied. A hair dresser comes in to finish the job.
‘We don’t do as much (with cosmetics) as people think we do,? said Wilk. ‘Eyeshadow just doesn’t work when your eyes are closed and your lying down.?
It’s during this final phase of preparation that any cuts or holes are filled with wax to make the body presentable. Wilk is able to do a fair amount with reconstructive cosmetics, but he said there are times when a body simply can not be made appropriate for an open casket.
If someone’s had a particularly grisly death, said Wilk, sometimes there’s nothing you can do.
Wilk has seen the way his job is perceived change with the passing of years.
‘It used to be (when telling others about his occupation) you got all the crazy stories,? says Wilk. People would often talk about the great-aunt they had who sat up in their coffin, or the uncle who twitched at his funeral, Wilk says.
Now ‘people say, ‘oh, you are? I want a cremation,? says Wilk.
Wilk says some of the more interesting reactions to his job came from visiting friends of his three children; Catherine, John and Christopher, when they were younger. Many would be skittish initially, but most, says Wilk, would soon become accustomed to the home.
Wilk’s own children never seemed upset by living with the dead, says Wilk.
‘It didn’t bother them, but they weren’t interested,? says Wilk. Neither of his children work in the funeral business.
Wilk says his wife, Barbara’who died in January? never disliked living in the funeral home.
‘She didn’t mind it at all,? Wilk says.
People would sometimes forget that Wilk and his family had lives outside the funeral business.
‘When we would have social things,? laughs Wilk, ‘people would see cars in the parking lot and wonder who died.?