Mary Domio was 16 when her mother died.
At the funeral, she watched closely as the director guided her family through one of the hardest days of their lives. Weeks later, that same funeral director visited her high school for career day. Domio walked him around campus. The next morning, she told her family she was going to mortuary school.
Twenty-five years later, she is a licensed funeral director and founder of Signature Memorial Chapel, a Black woman-owned funeral home she built after converting a former auto parts store into a full-service chapel and repast space.
Her entry into the profession came decades ago. Now, a new generation is following a similar path.
Across the country, Gen Z and younger millennials are entering funeral service in growing numbers, drawn by purpose-driven work, social media visibility, and a desire to normalize conversations about death.
Their arrival comes as the profession faces a looming labor shortage. Industry estimates indicate more than 60 percent of funeral directors are expected to retire within the next five years, creating significant workforce gaps.
At the Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service in Houston, President Cody Lopasky said the demographic shift is evident in enrollment.
“Most of our students tend to be around 21 up through around 35,” Lopasky said. “You’re catching both Gen Z and millennials in that group.”
The institute draws students from across the country. Lopasky said roughly 20 percent of recent graduates identify as African American and nearly 40 percent identify as students of color. He added that job placement rates hover around 90 percent, reflecting strong demand across the industry. The U.S. funeral market is estimated to be worth around $20.8 billion annually in 2025, with approximately 3.1 million deaths projected for the year.
“A large group of people come to us because they have had a death in the family,” Lopasky said. “Either it went really well, and they think, I can do that too, or it didn’t go well, and they want to do better by the next family.”
Recent graduate Mikenzie Scott did not have one defining loss that pushed her into the field. Instead, she describes funeral service as an extension of who she has always been.
“Growing up, I was always wanting to help,” Scott said. “Anybody who knew Mackenzie knew she was going to want to help with something.”
Her parents encouraged her to pursue medicine or law. She chose a different version of stability.
“People are always going to be sick. People are always going to need lawyers,” she said. “And I thought, well, everybody has to pass away. And I want to be there to help people in the darkest moments of their lives.”
Her first embalming lab at Commonwealth was the moment that solidified her calling.
“It was definitely like, wow,” Scott said. “I didn’t realize there was this much involved.”
Students at Commonwealth perform real embalmings under instructor supervision. Scott said unwrapping the body of someone’s loved one carries emotional weight.
“In that bag is somebody’s whole world,” she said. “You treat this person as if they are gold. They are meant to be cherished, loved, treated with the utmost dignity and respect.”
Historically dominated by older white men, the funeral service is seeing a rise in women and more diverse leadership. Black women, in particular, are carving out space in a field that once offered them limited visibility. Organizations such as 100 Black Women of Funeral Service have emerged to provide mentorship and support for women navigating the industry.
Domio represents that shift locally. She describes herself as “very traditional, very conservative” in how she serves families, but she also sees generational differences emerging.
“I see a lot of new funeral homes coming up in the city,” Domio said. “And the majority of them are more of the younger community,”
Younger funeral directors are often more comfortable integrating technology into services. Livestreamed homegoings, digital memorial pages, and active social media accounts are becoming more common.
Lopasky said online searches are now the primary way prospective students discover mortuary programs, reflecting the role of platforms like TikTok and YouTube in demystifying the field.
“This is a service profession,” Lopasky said. “Even if you’re an embalmer, you’re still interacting with families.”
He said misconceptions persist. Some assume funeral directors earn high salaries without understanding the emotional and logistical demands of the work.
“You can make a good living, but it’s not a get-rich-quick profession,” he said.
In Black communities, funeral homes carry particular cultural weight. During segregation, Black-owned funeral homes provided services when white establishments often refused Black families. Over time, they became trusted institutions and gathering spaces, deeply connected to church life and the homegoing tradition.
At Carl Barnes Funeral Home, licensed funeral director and community liaison Eric Wilson has worked in the industry since 1988. He said relationships remain central to the sustainability of Black-owned funeral homes.
“Eight out of 10 times, families are going to use someone they’re familiar with,” Wilson said. “It’s relationships that impact our case volume.”
Wilson has also observed shifts in how services are structured.
“Tradition is kind of moving toward entertainment,” he said. “Where in the past tradition always served the grief of the family, now sometimes the service becomes an extension of the grief.”
Balancing tradition with modernization presents both opportunity and challenge for younger directors. Some Black-owned funeral homes have declined in number over the past decade due to rising costs and corporate consolidation.
The hours are unpredictable. The emotional toll can be heavy, but a funeral service offers stability, potential for ownership, and meaningful community impact.
“Get a healthy perspective of what death is. And understand this is hard work when
Eric Wilson
you do it right.”
“Get a healthy perspective of what death is,” Wilson said. “And understand this is hard work when you do it right.”
For Domio, the work remains deeply personal. After losing her brother to suicide in 2023, she earned a certificate in counseling to better support grieving families.
“Sometimes you have to be a counselor,” she said. “You have to put whatever you’re going through on the back burner and take care of them.”
Domio offers similar advice to those considering the path she chose when she was young.
“Prepare yourself. Keep yourself humble. Stay true to who you are,” Domino said.
