She declares, "I'm happy to be the person who attends strangers' funerals
when no one else can."
The idea of death is quite weird. While for some people it is frightening
and upsetting, for others it is an intriguing topic. Jeane Trend-Hill, 55,
has always been fascinated with the idea of death and everything related to
it, including cemeteries, funerals, and caskets. When Trend-Hill was only 20
years old, her mother Mary passed away at the age of 57. When she was only
14 years old, her father Joe passed away at the age of 56. She would spend
hours sketching and photographing London's expansive Victorian
cemeteries.
But she didn't begin attending funerals until she unintentionally walked
into one in 2012. "I entered this lovely church and saw there was a service
going on," she said. A cemetery worker approached me and asked if I'd attend
a funeral for a veteran who had no one else to pay their respects, so I
complied and went along. "I was raised as a Catholic and told that it's then
bad to then leave, so I stayed and sat at the back. It was a complete
stranger, but I was moved."
She now claims to have traveled the world and been to more than 200
funerals of strangers. The staff at the cemetery Jeane frequented then asked
her to go to the funerals of the deceased who had no family. "Now I've
attended about 200 funerals for individuals I don't truly know — although I
have lost track of the precise number. I learned that everyone has a story
to tell, everyone has had a life, and everyone should have someone around to
remember them when they pass away."
The London resident from Islington says she is pleased with her job. "No
one should ever be cremated or buried alone," she said, adding, "I'm proud
to be that person who goes to strangers' funerals when there is no one else
who can attend." Jeane, an actress, photographer, and artist, said, "I've
always been fascinated with death since I was a child. 'We would go to
cemeteries, and I'd walk around looking at all the graves. They are like
outdoor art galleries."
Now that she finds cemeteries intriguing, Jeane spends time preserving and
cleaning them. She also holds a Ph.D. in mortuary science and has visited
several cemeteries across the world, including those in Paris and Venice.
She works as a cemetery historian. The plaque honoring the late British
architect Arthur Beresford Pite, who passed away in 1934, was also unveiled
by the woman as she was dressed in a Victorian mourning garb.
On Facebook, people have already started contacting Jean directly to invite
her to send-offs. She said, "The first thing I do when I go someplace is to
find where the closest crematory is." She claims her family even makes jokes
about her being a "hire a mourner" and says, "If I'm asked and I can go, I
would." Of course, I'd never actually make somebody pay for my presence at a
funeral, she remarked, "but it's a term they given me and it's a bit
amusing. If people want me to, I'll go to funerals dressed in a mourning
outfit. She does this because, in her eyes, it is a means of returning the
favor. Death has never concerned me; all I want to do is help others feel
less afraid of it as a way of giving back.
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