Careers in Death Care: A Day in the Life of a Death Educator

When Christa Ovenell was nearly 50, she made a life-changing decision to pursue her true passion and calling in death care, and left her corporate education job behind. Today, she is a Death Educator based in Vancouver, Canada, with 4 years of experience in the field. Ovenell is the founder of Death’s Apprentice, a company dedicated to offering holistic advance care planning services to individuals and progressive organizations. In this article, we’ll delve into Ovenell’s journey and explore her unique approach to death education.

“There is no certificate you can get to hang on your wall, no course you can take that allows you to suddenly call yourself a ‘licensed’ or ‘certified’ death educator.” says Ovenell. Like many careers in death care, becoming a Death Educator is something you feel called to, with no one right path to get there.

Death Educators in Western society work to bring death into everyday lives in a way that normalizes the experience of dying and losing loved ones. With experience as a Funeral Director and having earned a Masters Degree in Higher Education, Ovenell talks about what inspired her to become a Death Educator, common questions she gets in her career, and what her typical day looks like.

This is part of the latest instalment in our ongoing series, Careers in Death Care, where we chat with professionals in end-of-life and death care to provide first-hand experience and insight on working in this field.

Careers in Death Care: A Day in the Life Series

A Day in the Life of a Death Educator: Q&A with Christa Ovenell

Tell us about yourself and what brought you to become a Death Educator?

When I was quite a young woman, my sister told me the story of a mortician who worked all night to help a family who had lost their child in a terrible accident–his body wasn’t recovered intact but the mortician was able to create a viewing experience for the parents that was nothing short of a gift. That story stuck with me through my first career in hospitality and my second career in higher education.

As I neared my 50s, I realized another career change was ahead of me: I finally decided to act on something I had wanted to do ever since I had been told about that extraordinary mortician. So I went back to school to become a licensed funeral director/embalmer…but I didn’t want to work in a funeral home, I wanted to use my certifications in a different way.

What inspired you to become a Death Educator?

The main reason I became a funeral director was to help people understand and deal with death & dying differently. Death is not something many of us in the West typically embrace as part of life. And because of that, we often end up “meeting” death for the first time when someone we love dies. When you’re dealing with loss, it’s not typically a terrific time to be making important decisions or planning a funeral. And yet that’s how we do it here.

The thing is, death is not a mystery. It’s actually entirely predictable, and it is something we can plan for.

The most common question I get asked as a funeral director is “what do I do now?” And that’s a terrible thing to have to ask…I can’t think of any other part of life that we go into with such a profound lack of preparation or understanding. So I knew even before I became a funeral director that I actually wanted to do something very different in this field: I wanted to help people understand death as part of life. I wanted to be a death educator. Because when we learn about things, we often cease fearing those things. We can even become friends with them!

What is the biggest misconception about Death Educators?

I think “Death Educators” aren’t really a homogenous group–so it’s hard to say what people think about them, much less what folks get wrong about them. I do find that folks are often surprised that I am a middle-aged woman who has no tattoos and doesn’t look like a “goth girl” with black nail polish and red lipstick. I kind of look like what I used to be, a school principal! I also think that while dying is something more and more people have begun to be interested in, and the process of experiencing a natural death is something hospice nurses and other educators are talking about, there really is remarkably little conversation about what happens after you die.

The thing is, death is not a mystery. It’s actually entirely predictable, and it is something we can plan for. But even in death-positive circles, I am just blown away by how few people know what it means to register a death or what the basic function of a funeral home is. That’s why I am so glad I am a funeral director who is also an educator. It gives me terrific grounding!

Run us through a typical day as a Death Educator.

I spend a lot of time answering questions and filling in blanks. Because folks don’t know what they don’t know, there can be a lot of gaps in knowledge. I do 1-1 work with folks occasionally but the majority of my programming is corporate or group sessions. That looks a lot like a classroom setting, with the subject matter being death and dying! It’s really exciting actually.

Like any business person, I started my company because I saw a real gap in services that needed filling: there is such a low level of death-literacy in our society that virtually no one knows “what happens when you die”. Not from a metaphysical perspective, but from a highly practical point of view. The result is that people are thrown into decision-making during a period of grief, confusion, and chaos. It just doesn’t make sense to make major decisions in that state of mind. In the early days, I found clients just by word of mouth: people who had worked with me after a death had already occurred reached out and wanted to learn more so they wouldn’t leave someone else in a difficult situation. I noticed that most people needed the same information and brought the same sorts of problems forward, and eventually I created a program to guide people through important decisions before they may need to be made.

My clients come to me through word-of-mouth, a strong social-media presence, and after seeing me at various speaking engagements. I have presented to and for Hospice organizations, and for over a year I had a recurring column on CBC radio one (and you can find those columns at www.deathsapprentice.ca/nxnw). I receive a lot of referrals from notaries, lawyers, counsellors, real estate agents and life insurance professionals. Death touches all aspects of life, but there aren’t a lot of people who know how to help people with the realities attached to the topic. I offer complimentary consultations to anyone who might need one, and have a very high conversion rate: once people know they need to speak to me, they also seem to know they need services like mine. Really the key for my business is being findable–so that means talking a lot about a topic many people don’t want to hear much about!

Curriculum development is a huge part of the work that I do, and I have a graduate degree in Education as well as a great deal of experience creating curriculum on various topics for adult learners specifically. I have created specific modules for people who want to work 1-1, families, groups of non-related individuals for in-person session and online classes, and people in corporate settings too. The content isn’t wildly different between the modules but each delivery modality influences the tone, pace, and delivery. I believe very strongly that this isn’t work that can be automated or game-ified: it is thoughtful work that needs careful reflection and therefore, a safe and welcoming learning environment.

It really shows that even when we are “prepared” and even when we are brave enough to have a cold “light of day” look at death, it can still take us by surprise…

My clients range in age from low-mid 20s all the way up to late 80s. Women seem more likely to begin the work, but if they are in a heterosexual union they can often “convince” their partners to come along. In general, my clients tend to be in their 50s-60s. Many of them have recently experienced the loss of a parent and it might have been a bit of a nightmare, with the parent not willing to face their own mortality and hence, have nothing in place. Many clients come to me saying, “ I don’t want anyone to have to go through what my parents put me through”.

One of the best parts of my work is that my curriculum keeps me connected to what matters to ME, too: whether I’m working with folks individually or in group settings I help people think about, talk about, and prepare for something that might not always be super easy to explore. My curriculum doesn’t just focus on death-decisions either: it’s a holistic approach to legal, administrative & financial documentation, medical & philosophical decision making for both end-of-life and illness or incapacitation which may not be fatal, disposition & ceremony choices and what I lovingly call “the most important paperwork”: emotional heirlooms and legacy work. Leading people through this helps me remember what matters most every day. To say my workdays are fulfilling is the understatement of the century!

What was one of the hardest days you encountered as a Death Educator?

I served an absolutely beautiful young woman not too long ago who wanted to do some holistic planning because she had a cancer diagnosis. She (and the doctors) thought she had quite a lengthy prognosis but shortly after we finished our planning work together, I heard from her mother that she had died. It sounds funny to say this but even though we all knew she was sick–and even though I’m a death educator–none of us expected her to go so quickly.

It really shows that even when we are “prepared” and even when we are brave enough to have a cold “light of day” look at death, it can still take us by surprise, and be hard for us to deal with. I guess the hardest part about doing the work I do is that I am constantly reminded of our collective mortality. That can be incredibly empowering, but also something that is sobering.

What was one of the most memorable days you’ve had as a Death Educator?

I was exceptionally lucky to be featured as a columnist on Canada’s national broadcaster, which is called CBC. Every month for well over a year I had a radio column on an extremely popular program which was broadcast province-wide. I think one of the most memorable days I ever had was the first time I got to go into the studio to record a column: we had been recording in our living rooms because of COVID and I finally got to go into this huge fancy building and get all miked up and stuff.

The conversations were always so fulfilling and the feedback on the columns was incredible! Literally thousands of people heard these shows every month and even though the host was initially kind of scared to put the programs up, she saw how deeply moved and grateful people were to have this incredibly important topic talked about sensibly, without sensationalizing anything, just practically and with love.

How can someone interested in becoming a Death Educator start the process?

This is a lifelong educational process. There is no certificate you can get to hang on your wall, no course you can take that allows you to suddenly call yourself a “licensed” or “certified” death educator. I happen to hold a Masters Degree in Higher Education from the University of British Columbia, and I spent about 15 years in higher and adult education before moving into death care and death education specifically. I took a rigorous 2 year program and a 2 year apprenticeship to become a funeral director & embalmer, and then I took a short program to learn about End of Life Doulas.

I do professional development all the time, I write curriculum, and I teach too. I read, I volunteer in death-adjacent spaces (like hospices for example). I am learning all the time. I think there are many paths into this work but none of them are particularly clearly marked! One terrific first step would be to have a conversation with an educator you admire, if they are open to it. Hint: I’m open to it!

What type of education or training do you need to become a Death Educator?

Well, more is better. As mentioned above, there is no one course you can take. I believe part of what makes me a good educator is that I have a wealth of experience outside of deathcare that I bring into this work with me. I have taken many courses and programs on the topic of death and dying but I also know a heck of a lot about life and living. I would genuinely discourage folks from thinking they can just take a 5 day or 5 month course and “be” an educator of any description. Be a lifelong learner, and then you’re halfway there!

What advice would you give to someone starting out as a Death Educator, or interested in becoming a Death Educator?

Embrace the beginner’s mindset. Don’t be afraid to be humble. Acknowledge your own lack of expertise, but embrace your strengths. Learn, learn, learn. Read! Speak to folks you admire. Share your opinions, seek feedback, and be willing to start at the very bottom…there is just so much to learn!

Careers in Death Care: A Day in the Life Series

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