It was an evening of elegance, congregation, glitzy gowns, top tier tuxedos, fine dining, with a pulsating mix of live jazz, R&B vibes and a crowded dance floor.
It was the 2024 Undertakers Ball at the Jade Event Center in North County this month and, by all accounts, the second annual event was a resounding success.
According to organizer, Rev. Dr. NL Grice, Jade Event Center owner, the genesis for the first event in 2023, was, in part, an effort to recognize funeral directors who were tirelessly working their way through one of the most tumultuous times in modern history.
Though initially discovered in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, COVID-19 entered the U.S. biosphere in January 2020. By the end of 2022 the pandemic had killed more than 1 million people in the United States alone. It disrupted personal, family and professional lives worldwide. Although the impact on first responders (stress, fear, PTSD, depression, etc.) were well documented, conditions last suffered by responders – Funeral directors – didn’t receive approportionate coverage.
Under guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the risk of transmissions from the deceased, many traditional funeral service rites and traditions were altered or suspended.
The coronavirus changed how Americans grieve and cope, leaving many without a proper way to say ‘goodbye.’ Funeral and cremation service directors were suddenly forced to deal with an increase in in-home and online arrangements all during a massive labor shortage in the industry.
Vanessa Pollard and her husband Jeffrey are second generation owners of Ronald L. Jones Funeral Home in North St. Louis. She recalled some of those painful moments.
“We had long, extensive hours trying to accommodate the mandates set by the city … and the CDC,” Pollard said.
“Oftentimes we could only have 10 family members at the service at a time with some having more than that just in their immediate families. So, we had to rotate (services) throughout the day to accommodate families as well trying to stay in compliance with laws and mandates.”
Kelvin O. Baucom, owner of Baucom’s Life Celebration and Cremation Center in Jennings spoke appreciatively of the origins of the Undertaker’s Ball.
“It came about at a time when none of us were able to come together for any type of outings or get-togethers,” Baucom said.
The ball today, Grice emphasized, “supersedes the stress we had during the pandemic.”
“Our primary purpose today,” he added, “is to award scholarships to young funeral service students, but we also take time to acknowledge our losses.
“Just last year alone, we lost quite a few of our pioneers such as Mr. Austin Layne, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas from Reliable Funeral Home as well as T. Herbert Cotton with Wade Funeral Home.”
Grice added that the ball gives those in the “death business” precious time to live.
“Most of the time funeral homes are at the cemetery and don’t have the chance to congregate and meet with one another. They just see each other in passing. So, this is the time of year where everyone can meet and talk, enjoy fine dining and dance.”
What Pollard said she appreciated most about the ball was the ability to step outside the arena of competition and genuinely support one another.
“Our industry doesn’t have banker’s hours; it’s 24/7 around the clock,” Pollard said. “It was a good way to bring in colleagues to celebrate and not be in competition with one another. We were in a safe zone; we came together to be celebrated.”
Throughout the evening, participants received “Power Couple, Removal Service and Printing Company” awards. Vanessa Pollard said her father, Ronald L. Jones’ “Foundational Award” was well-deserved.
“My father, Mr. Jones, built a foundation not only for his own family where he’s leaving a legacy; we’re now working on our third generation,” Pollard said further stressing her father’s contributions: “He’s helped at least four funeral homes have their own businesses and we have supported every one of them with supplies, information or ways to organize their businesses.”
The ball was cosponsored by the Witherspoon Law Group, a firm known for representing personal injury and wrongful death victims and their families. The Florida-based firm has operations in several states including Missouri.
Grice said he’s unaware of any other major Undertakers Ball in the country. Because of the annual St. Louis event, he hopes that will change. He’s timing the Undertaker’s Ball in a couple years with the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Convention & Expo scheduled in St. Louis in 2026.
Baucom, thinks that’s a grand idea:
“It’s a great idea and a great way to honor those who’ve been in this business for 30 or 40 years and show appreciation for those you’ve given back to their communities.”
Sylvester Brown Jr. is the Deaconess Foundation Community Advocacy Fellow.