Women2Women - Summer 2017 - 11

Maria Kaufman

Funeral Director, Lamm & Witman Funeral Home, Wernersville, PA

A local funeral director "flat out told me
I wouldn't make it as a funeral director, that
women weren't funeral directors, I was too small
and wouldn't be able to do the necessary lifting."
Funeral Director Maria Kaufman grieves alongside each family she
serves, but she knows she has the skills and compassion needed to
help them through this difficult time. "It's that knowledge that allows
me to be able to witness it on a regular basis, knowing that I am able
to help them," said Kaufman.
An experience Kaufman had at age 15 influenced her decision to
enter this profession. At a funeral of a close friend, Kaufman was
appalled when she heard that the casket would not be open because
the funeral director said, "'the texture of her face resembled beef jerky
and was beginning to peel.' I thought that if I was ever a funeral
director I would never say that to someone."
Fast forward three years, and Kaufman was attending Alvernia
University with an undecided major and a sustained interest in funeral
directing. When her counselor set Kaufman up on a meeting with
a local funeral director, "he flat out told me I wouldn't make it as
a funeral director, that women weren't funeral directors, I was too
small and wouldn't be able to do the necessary lifting," said Kaufman.
While Kaufman has not felt held back from her male counterparts,
she has "felt the need to prove I belong here and that yes, even though
I do things differently from you, I can get the job done." Despite
adversity, Kaufman ultimately decided to pursue funeral directing.
Kaufman wants women to know that "they have just as good a
chance as anyone else to do this," though she mentioned balancing
work and home life as the most challenging aspect of her career. She
describes funeral directing as "24/7, it's not a career, it's a way of
life." Ultimately, "without my family support, I wouldn't be able to
be a funeral director," said Kaufman.
According to Kaufman, the most rewarding aspect of her career is
"the knowledge that I was able to help someone get through a difficult
time in their life...to be there for them, comfort them, and guide them
through this time." Similar to Senior Judge Linda Ludgate, Kaufman listed
compassion as the most important quality to have as a funeral director.

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Fredericka Heller, MD

530 Kenhorst Boulevard | Reading, PA 19611 | 610.775.7133

WOMEN'S
LIFECYCLES

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A Tradition of Dignified Service
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243 W. Penn Avenue, Wernersville, Pa. 19565

LAMM AND

678-3461

berkswomen2women.com
11
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1707
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http://berks.psu.edu http://www.womenslifecycles.net/ http://www.lammandwitman.com/ http://www.berkswomen2women.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Women2Women - Summer 2017
