“We sell people a peace of mind,” president of the Chattanooga Funeral Home Gene Pike told the Brainerd Kiwanis Club. “Burying people is for the living.”

After being in the funeral arrangement business for 50 years, Mr. Pike said he does not plan to retire. “I enjoy what I do. I like helping families get through the worst day of their life.”

Mr. Pike entertained the club with a variety of both funny and sad stories from his experiences.

Mr. Pike’s father was also a funeral director, so he said he began helping with funeral arrangements before he was 13 years old.

He told about one man whose father was just taken off life support and expected to die any minute. The man gave Mr. Pike his father’s dentures and told him that he would call him about funeral arrangements as soon as his father died. To his surprise, Mr. Pike said he didn’t hear from the man for three weeks. Finally he called and asked Mr. Pike if he still had the dentures because when his father was taken off life support he recovered, was released from the hospital and needed his dentures back. “This shows the Almighty ultimately has control on when we leave the earth, not machines,” said Mr. Pike.

Mr. Pike said he was working at a funeral home in 1977 when Elvis Presley died. He said Mr. Presley knew most of the staff there and had always told them that he really respected their profession. Mr. Pike said arrangements for the funeral were complicated and it was difficult to keep the public away. Later they moved Mr. Presley’s body from Forest Hill Cemetery to his father’s home to assure its safety from the public. When his body was transferred from the mausoleum the marble crypt was left. He said it was eventually given to a local businessman who cut it into small pieces and sold each piece for $25. The man made about $2 million, said Mr. Pike.

Since many people die in their homes or nursing homes, Mr. Pike said there are often onlookers when the body is taken away. In the past, bodies were taken by a hearse. Mr. Pike said many people, particularly the elderly, found this sight disturbing. Now he said the funeral home uses a van that is nicely fixed up on the inside. The van allows them to discreetly take a body away without people knowing what is going on and feeling disturbed.

Mr. Pike encouraged members of the club to think about pre-planning. “The greatest gift a parent can give to their children is to get all of the funeral details worked out. Don’t leave that up to them. Make this a celebration of a life.”