Kate Cheman
Karen Mansfield
Kate Cheman is the owner of Rabe-Cheman Funeral Home & Cremations in Donora.
Karen Mansfield
Rabe-Cheman Funeral Home & Cremations in Donora
By Karen Mansfield
Kate Cheman has always been fascinated with funeral homes.
“When I was growing up, we went to a lot of funerals, and it always had an appeal to me,” said Cheman. “It was the whole package: the beautiful funeral home, the funeral director in his fancy suit – it was always a male funeral director when I was younger – I just liked it.”
Today, Cheman, 38, is the owner of Rabe-Cheman Funeral Home & Cremations in Donora.
Over the last few decades, the funeral industry has undergone a massive change, and women are entering the profession in large numbers.
According to the National Funeral Directors Association, more than 60 percent of mortuary science students are women.
Cheman isn’t surprised that women have become entrenched in the industry, acknowledging women possess many of the traits funeral directors need: compassion, a desire to comfort and organization and communication skills.
“Women are caregivers. We like taking care of people. We like making sure they’re comfortable, they’re happy. It makes us feel good to do that,” said Cheman. “And we are uniquely feminine. We can go around hugging everybody, and nobody gets creeped out. We can hold someone’s hand.”
Cheman had occasionally considered becoming a funeral director. A graduate of Deer Lakes High School, she changed her major four times before she earned a bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
But Cheman wasn’t satisfied with her career path, and in 2010, at age 28, she decided to enroll in the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, where she completed the online program.
Cheman knew she made the right decision – and felt a sense of purpose – early on.
“I was at a funeral home in Altoona. The very first call the funeral director took me on, that was it. I knew it,” said Cheman. “He called me in the middle of the night as said, ‘Put on a suit, come on, let’s go.’ We went to a nursing home, and I was thrown right into it. We went back to the funeral home to do the embalming, and I was like, “This is it.'”
Cheman considers embalming both science and art; it is one of the most important parts of her job, and the one in which she takes the most pride.
She recalled how her grandmother, who lived with her family, deteriorated before succumbing to cancer when Cheman was in third grade.
“She was absolutely emaciated. I remember going to the funeral home, and I remember seeing her after the embalming and how special that moment was, how it was her again,” said Cheman. “I remember thinking how much she looked like herself and seeing her at peace. It’s the finishing touches that make it special – doing the hair, doing the makeup properly, bringing someone’s features back. I take a lot of pride in my embalming.”
After she graduated from mortuary school, Cheman spent five years at Coston Funeral Home, where she gained experience in all aspects of operating a funeral home. She worked at other funeral homes before deciding to take a leap and run her own funeral home.
In November 2018, Cheman purchased Rabe Funeral Home, which had not been in operation since the former owner, James A. Rabe, died in 2014. Rabe was a second-generation funeral director who began his career in 1949.
Cheman spent one year renovating the funeral, with help from her father and her boyfriend, before officially opening in November 2019.
“I’m trying to get families to come back. Often, people appreciate the fact that their grandmother, or other relatives, came to this funeral home. But it takes time. The funeral home hasn’t been in operation for about six years.”
She prides herself on providing bereaved families with empathy, dignity, respect and attention to detail as she guides them through the funeral process.
“People are going through a really difficult time, and they all do it differently,” said Cheman. “It’s rewarding at the end to know that you’ve helped them through that time and to see them at the end like this weight’s been lifted. The feedback is rewarding.”
She has navigated the changes in the funeral home industry – the increase in deceased who choose cremation, and shorter visitations (families are increasingly opting to do visitation and burial in one day) – and said: “no matter how long you do this, there are still surprises that come up.”
The work is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, notes Cheman, and more of a vocation than a job.
“The women I know aren’t money-driven. They’re in it to be there for grieving families,” she said.
Being a funeral director has given Cheman a perspective on life and death.
“The biggest thing is you always know at some point, your end is coming. Funeral directors are aware of that. So it’s important to spend time with family and people you love because anything can change in an instant,” said Cheman. “We’ve dealt with children, elderly, people our age. It is always there confronting you, right in your face.”