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Local funeral home adds new face to funeral directing team

Sarah LaCroix
Photo by Katelynn Farley.

The staff at Myers Funeral Home in Huntington has grown this year, with the addition of funeral director Sarah LaCroix. She joins directors Douglas Denney and Sammuel Kaufman.

LaCroix first moved to Huntington as a middle school student and graduated from Huntington North High School in 1996. She then attended the Mid-America College of Funeral Service in 2004 and became licensed as a funeral director.

LaCroix lists several factors that played a part in her decision to become a funeral director. She recalls spending time as a child asking about her twin brother that had died in infancy and being met with very few answers – and also mentions her desire to serve others.

“I’ve always wanted to serve people,” she says. “It didn’t matter in what kind of manner or shape or form. It didn’t matter if it was blue collar or white collar, I’ve done a lot of jobs where I’m able to help people.”

The memories of wanting to understand more about loss as a child, paired with wanting to serve others and the desire to “take the road less traveled” all combined into stepping into the world of mortuary work.

After spending time in the mortuary business, LaCroix attended Indiana Univeristy Southeast and graduated in 2017 with a bachelor’s in criminal justice with a minor in psychology. LaCroix says that for a time she worked for the Bowen Center, wanting to help troubled teens. But, the emotional fortitude that the job requires was too much for her to bear.

After COVID-19 hit and things started to shut down, LaCroix questioned what her next step might be. She decided to look into getting re-instated as a funeral director and sought advice from local funeral directors like Christopher Love, of Bailey-Love Mortuary. LaCroix had shadowed Love in 2003 before attending the Mid-America College of Funeral Service and he was able to give her information on schooling requirements to be re-instated.

After 65 hours of continued education and re-testing with the state in March, LaCroix began working full-time with Myers Funeral Home in April.

Some of her main duties at the funeral home include working with the deceased that are brought in and preparing them for the services. She has also recently started selling monuments as well. LaCroix says she’s “not quite ready” for some of the more “face-to-face” parts of the job, but that she’s working toward that.

“The guys are so good at what they do,” she says. “Everybody just adds a special piece to the puzzle…I prefer to be a wallflower.”

LaCroix says that when she is doing her work, she thinks of the children and other family members that will be seeing their deceased loved one for the last time, and asks herself what she can do to make the moment as comfortable as possible.

“When my dad passed… I thought, this doesn’t look anything like my dad,” she says. “And from that point on, I didn’t want another family to feel like I felt viewing my dad for the last time… I try to put other people’s feelings into my work.”

Although LaCroix says she and her husband don’t have much time for actual hobbies, her “whole life” revolves around family.

“It’s chaotic. There’s always something going on,” she says.

One of her passions is drug overdose awareness, and hopes to be able to use her free time to bring more awareness to what is going on in the community.

“Everybody knows somebody that has dealt with it,” she says. “But people need to know that they’re not alone.”

LaCroix is also open about the parts of her job she wants to do better with and knows there are areas to improve on, saying she isn’t afraid to “mention (her) flaws.”

“You know what? I’m not as strong as these guys,” LaCroix says. “It’s a little disappointing, but I do try my best.”

Myers Funeral Home has two Huntington County locations, one at 2901 Guilford St., Huntington, and one at 415 N. Lee St., Markle. For more information, visit dignitymemorial.com/funeralhomes/myers.