Brown finds career inspirationin tragic accident
Hannah Brown of Twin City is in the process of completing her funeral director and embalmer licensure. This is an unlikely profession for a young woman, but at 24-years-old, Brown feels she has found her calling. With the help of mentor J.R. “Sony” Morgan III, Brown is making her dreams a reality.
The daughter of Buck and Dorothy Brown, the sister of Will Brown, the granddaughter of Nancy Brown and Sue Fortner, and the dog-mom of 9-month-old Jax, Brown graduated high school from David Emanuel Academy, Class of 2014. After high school, she enrolled in cosmetology classes at Southeastern Technical College. She was uninterested in college and was just going through the motions of work and school until she found her tragic inspiration.
In 2017, Brown’s former boyfriend, Michael “Mikey” Walker passed away after a car accident. Brown, in her work-school limbo, found consolation from the funeral staff who handled the proceedings for Walker and his family. After bearing witness to Chapman Funeral Home’s compassion, care, and professionalism, Brown decided to look into what it would take to become a funeral director and embalmer. Two years later, Brown works for that same funeral home where she found her passion.
Brown earned her Associates of Applied Sciences in Funeral Service Education from Ogeechee Technical College in December 2019. In order to become a licensed funeral director and embalmer, she had to graduate from an American Board of Funeral Service Education certified school and pass two national board exams. Brown is currently in the process of completing her apprenticeship at Chapman Funeral Home and will be fully licensed once it is completed. She has worked with Chapman Funeral Home since August 2019.
“People often ask me why I chose this profession. Mikey Walker is my ‘why,’” Brown explained. “To me, being a funeral director and embalmer means everything. It has been a very rewarding job in that families trust us with the most important thing, their loved ones. I am there for people during some of their most vulnerable and painful times. If I can make the process of losing a loved one even a little less painful and difficult, then I have done my job. It can definitely be a tiring and trying career, but I could not imagine doing anything else.”
Looking to the future, Brown hopes to spread her wings outside of Emanuel County. Brown has always loved traveling, especially to the cities. According to Brown, she may be from a small town, but has “big city dreams.”
“I like to say ‘I’ll go wherever my wings will take me.’ While I plan on moving away in the future, I will always be grateful to this small community, Chapman Funeral Home, and the families I have worked with here for putting their trust in me.”