Morticians Bare Chests For Charity

Finding a dozen funeral directors to serve as models for a full-color calendar was a major undertaking, but the manly morticians hope to raise money for breast cancer survivors and bury some perceptions about their industry.

The idea for a Men of Mortuaries calendar came to Long Beach, Calif., funeral home owner Ken McKenzie after his sister, who survived breast cancer, talked about the financial struggles caused by the illness.

His sister, Katherine Alyce McKenzie Meadows, had money for necessities, but she didn't always have enough to make life more pleasant, like taking her daughter to the movies.

"I said I wish we could find ways to get money if you get cancer," McKenzie said.

McKenzie thought of the idea of featuring morticians on a calendar after seeing calendars featuring firefighters with rippled abs being sold to raise money for burn victims.

He created a nonprofit organization and named it after his sister, the KAMM Cares Foundation, and said the money will be used to give women battling breast cancer a one-time monetary gift for things they can't afford while undergoing treatment.

"It's a one-time gift that they can apply for and use for whatever they want," he said. "I wanted to put it in the hands of women when they needed it."

Sales of the Men of Mortuaries calendar will begin in October, the month designated as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by national public service organizations, professional medical associations, and government agencies, including the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

McKenzie placed an advertisement in a trade magazine seeking 12 buff funeral directors to be featured on a calendar. He narrowed the applicants to the 12 finalists, gave them each a $1,000 prize and offered to fly them to Long Beach for a photo shoot.

Word of the calendar caught the attention of the media and McKenzie said network television shows have asked for interviews when the calendar is released.

He expects sales of the calendar to do well because it is different from what people would expect.

"Whenever you hear about a funeral director it's a guy in a suit in the corner with a hump on their back," he joked. "The hardest part was finding 12 attractive funeral directors. That just doesn't happen. This industry is just not known for that."

David Fisch, 27, of Remsen, a small-town mortician, who also happens to be a body builder, answered McKenzie's ad and will be one of the funeral directors featured in the calendar.

Fisch, whose grandfather started the Fisch Funeral Home in 1943, expects to take over the business from his father in a few years.

He hopes the calendar raises money for breast cancer survivors and helps change the image many people have of morticians.

"Most people get the image of a skinny, gaunt person with dark eyes and pale skin, that's what most people would assume, but it's not always true," he said. "I think that anything that shines a positive light nowadays is a good thing."

McKenzie said he also hopes the calendar will change the perception of morticians.

"We always try to change that," he said. "This is the first time I've had the opportunity to step up to the plate and do that nationally, so I'm kind of excited about that."

Although scenes for the calendar are still under development, McKenzie envisions one photo featuring all 12 funeral directors in suits with no shirt or tie.

"That's as much skin as we show," he said.

Scenes will show the solemnity of a funeral or the celebration of life. Others will be funny. The cover theme of the calendar, "Men of Mortuaries: You'll just dig 'em," exemplifies the tone.

"I want to let people know that these people are normal functional men with lives and relationships and things go wrong in their lives, too," McKenzie said. "I want that to come through."