About the Episode: Have you ever heard something go bump in the night while working at the funeral home? Did you ever have an eerie experience you just couldn’t explain? Do you sometimes wonder if you “not alone”? Regardless of how you may feel about the paranormal, everyone loves a good ghost story. In this episode, host, Gabe Schauf sits down with Duane Hills, Todd Harra, Ben Schmidt, and Jason Engler to hear a couple of spooky mortuary tales.
About Duane: Duane is from rural Pennsylvania but moved into New York State before attending Simmons School of Mortuary Science in Syracuse, New York. He graduated in 1978 and owned and managed many funeral firms across the country. In 2022 Duane self-published a book on the history of Joseph Gawler’s Sons entitled, “One Block West of the White House.” Duane retired on May 31, 2024 as the president of Joseph Gawler’s Sons in Washington, DC. Upon his retirement from SCI he was given the title of President Emeritus.
About Todd: Todd is a funeral director and embalmer and owner and president of McCrery and Harra Funeral Home. He has written several books on the funeral profession, the most recent being Last Rites: The Evolution of the American Funeral. He is a former associate editor for Southern Calls Magazine, "The Journal of the Funeral Profession."
About Ben: Ben Schmidt, MBIT, is a licensed funeral director and embalmer in two states and has been a funeral service educator for nine years at two mortuary colleges. He is currently teaching at Northeast Texas Community College. In addition to his teaching role, he serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator at Frigid Fluid. He is also a textbook author, the host of two podcasts, and a judge for the NFDA’s Funeral Face-Off Trivia. Ben has presented both locally and internationally, including at The Cremation Association of North America's first embalming CE event and the Belgian Institute of Thanatopraxie’s 50th Anniversary.
About Jason: Jason Ryan Engler is a funeral director, cremation specialist, and Insight Institute certified celebrant, and is known by many as the Cremation Historian. He is considered a thought leader in cremation products and services, volunteers as the historian for the Cremation Association of North America and is the cremation historian for the National Museum of Funeral History. He is an author, having written for both trade journals and non-funeral-related magazines. He lives in Kansas City with his miniature dachshund, Otto, and he enjoys exploring the mystical mysteries of the Universe.