Families meet the next generation
Hertfordshire’s J J Burgess & Sons has been celebrating an anniversary, as former SAIF President Justin James Burgess reached 24 years with the family business this summer. Justin took the opportunity to single out the roles his sons have been playing.
His eldest, John James Burgess, has been helping out when home from university, taking the role of driver and bearer in particular and “enjoying the wages as a consequence”, while James Jacob Burgess has managed to fuse working in the family business with his interest in film and television.
Justin explained: “James was due to do two weeks work experience through his school but for one reason or another it didn’t happen, so he spent the first week on a film set locally to us where we had been drafted in to supply funeral sundries.
“As this is his ultimate dream of a career he was over the moon to be able to spend time in props, behind the camera and even painting some of the art props to be hung on the wall of the character’s home.”
Justin said that mourners appreciate “that they knew my father and grandfather and they are now meeting the next generation”.
He added: “Although in my heart I would love one of the boys or indeed both of the boys to come into the family funeral business, my head tells me that there is a whole world to experience out there, and while I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute so far, I am aware that you really have to give a great deal of time and indeed a part of yourself to the role.”
Tags: Burgess, family, J J Burgess & Sons, SAIF President