|
Mortuary Science: The Ins and Outs, w/Lori Q. Purcell Lori Q. Purcell was named chairperson for the Mortuary Science Department at Hudson Valley Community College in 2016. She has nearly 30 years of experience in the funeral business, began teaching as an adjunct at HVCC in 2005 and became a full-time faculty member in 2008. Purcell began her career at the Bowen Funeral Home in Latham and continued to work in the industry with the Parker Brothers Memorial Funeral Home until 2014. A native of Newburgh, Purcell said she always knew she wanted to work in the funeral business. “I grew up between two funeral homes on either end of my street. I knew it was something I always wanted to do,” she said. Purcell is one of a growing number of women who have entered what was once seen as a male-dominated profession. According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), 57 percent of mortuary science students in the United States are women, and that number has been steadily growing over the past several decades. In the late 1970s, according to the NFDA, only 13 percent of students in similar programs were women. Bring your questions; our speaker’s leaving a block of time at the end for Q & A. |
