A Little Bit About Me...Ted Spilsbury

What does the everyday funeral director do to escape?  By this I mean, working every day in the funeral business would seem to be a bit overwhelming...around grief and sadness day after day.  Someone might ask, “How could you stand it?”  Quite frankly, helping people is a wonderful profession, but, yes, the funeral director needs a break.  I remember back as I was growing up that there was never time for a break.  My dad took the business with him everywhere.  The business was small with one secretary, one custodian, one embalmer, one funeral director, one person to transport and another to constantly answer the phone.  Yes, you guessed it.  The one person was Mr. Spilsbury himself and the other, Mrs. Spilsbury, my mother, who was always answering the telephone.

            Am I ever glad that those days are gone forever.  Today, you might say that I have it soft.  I am blessed to have a large staff and modern technology that has made it possible to transfer telephones to the on-call funeral director’s cell phone.  Well, the business is not so personally demanding as it once was, but still and all an escape or diversion is very necessary.

            For some, it is the golf course.  For others, it is jogging 10 miles a day.  Jogging 50 miles a week will take your mind off of any business.

            As for me, I run a ranch, “Spilsbury Land and Livestock.” It is the greatest escape.  In the summer, the cattle are on Kolob Mountain, and the fences need to be repaired every year.  It affords great exercise and good company – Mother Nature.

            There is time to sit under an oak or aspen tree, eat lunch, usually consisting of a hearty ham sandwich and a package of Ding Dongs.  It’s a time for me to ponder and express appreciation.  In the winter, the cattle are at Sand Mountain, next to Sand Hollow Reservoir.  Every week, I need to pump water.  When it is cold, I first have to chip the ice, and believe it or not, I once again enjoy Mother Nature.

            For this funeral director, running a hundred head of range cattle is the best relaxation in the world.  Besides, if one pays attention, one can learn a great deal about life and raising children from the cattle and working out-of-doors. Seasons, vegetation, patterns, characteristics, and nurturing are very much a part of the animal world.

            After about three days on the mountain, I am ready to get back to the profession.  My profession and my hobby both bring great happiness and fulfillment to my life.