Today’s funeral director must juggle myriad personalities, expectations, costs, logistics and special requests as they execute their responsibilities associated with honoring the memory of a loved one. Serving families with grace and empathy is at the core of funeral services education at Piedmont Technical College (PTC). “Funeral Services is a ministry,” said Dedrick Gantt, funeral...

A typical single guy in his early 30s, Cody Anderson sometimes attends social events and parties where he might meet a potential romantic interest. Soon comes the inevitable question: “What do you do?” “I say that I am a ‘final event specialist.’ But then they always ask, what is that? And I explain that I own and operate a funeral home,” the Aiken native noted. Anderson is proud...