For the love of embalming

PRESENTATION: IT'S ABOUT TAKING CARE OF THE DEAD

- Hein Kaiser

It's probably the one job that nobody could ever imagine doing, but Karen Lloyd absolutely loves what she and her husband Nick do. They are professional embalmers and travel across the province and country to care for the dead.

An embalmer is a professional who specialises in preserving and preparing deceased bodies for funerals, burial or transportation. Embalming serves several purposes, including delaying decomposition, ensuring the body is safe to handle and presenting it in a dignified and natural state for viewing by loved ones.

It wasn't exactly what Lloyd had planned for her life. She comes from a banking and finance background. She trained and then joined her partner's practice after realising that there was no succession plan in the business.

"My husband started embalming over 30 years ago," she said. "He moved into private embalming after working for years with a national funeral chain. I thought, 'What happens to his clients if he retires or passes away?' So, I decided to learn."