Undertakers Wife : A True Story Of Love Loss And Laughter In The Unlikelies

Deona (“Dee”) Branch married into the funeral business when she wed Johnnie Oliver, a fourth-generation funeral director, in 1984. She knew that her husband did not belong just to her; this became clear as early as their first date, when Johnnie had to scoot out “for just a minute”-and he came back with a corpse.

After Johnnie died suddenly in 2007, Dee went back to school and earned her mortuary science degree so that she could carry on his work. Barred re-entry into the family business by a jealous brother-in-law, Dee found herself fully credentialed, armed with nearly 30 years of funeral experience-and utterly jobless. None of the “white” funeral homes would have her, for fear of alienating the venerable H.D. Oliver funeral clan. Thus it was that-despite having an iPhone full of well-connected business leaders, political luminaries, garden club mavens, and countless other very rich, very white, and very certain-to-perish friends– Dee finally decided to cross the racial divide in perhaps, the most segregated industry in America. She accepted an internship at Riddick’s, a funeral home staffed entirely by, and for, black people.

Part memoir, part how-to book, The Undertakers Widow might also be described as The Blind Side-in reverse. Dee’s insights on the common ground of grief, survival, and the ever-present faithfulness of God (to all of us, regardless of our race, religious upbringing, or socio-economic background) will help readers prepare for one of life’s only certainties-and do it with wisdom, grace, and a healthy dose of joy.