Ed Penton This is Me

 Web References

1. 1.  Bogalusa Daily News Online

   www.edailynews.info/articles/2 - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/1/2004   Last Visited: 10/2/2004

   FINAL MOMENTS , Ed Penton of Brown Funeral Home prepares to flip the switch that lowers caskets into their final resting place at Hillview Memorial Gardens in Bogalusa. Penton will retire this month as a gravedigger for Brown Funeral Home, where he has worked for 36 years.
   ...
   Penton has spent a lifetime digging local graves
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   BOGALUSA , Ed Penton is finally hanging up his shovel after 36 years of being part of the final earthly days of many Bogalusa residents.
   
   Penton retires from Brown Funeral Home, where he's spent the past four decades as a gravedigger , a literally dying profession, as Penton's skilled hands have been replaced by the work of a machine.
   
   Penton has spent the past few years working the machine, and said it's made his job a lot easier. "I wish I had the machine when I started," he said.
   
   Penton began his career because he "wanted a job outside," he said.
   ...
   In addition to digging the graves, Penton has been there when the casket is finally lowered into the ground , often making him the last person involved in a funeral.
   
   The best thing about the job was "the final acts…anything you could do for a person," Penton said. "I got enthused over it."
   
   Although Penton's job may be one of the forgotten professions in the funeral industry, he's taken pride in all his work. "If you're nothing but a pine tree in the forest, you have to be the tallest tree," he said.
   
   Penton said he has received many compliments for his work from friends and family of the deceased.
   
   "I'm definitely going to miss making families happy," he said. "I'm the person that has the last thing to do with the deceased."
   
   But Penton isn't fully retiring. He still remains the owner of Mr. Clean Janitorial Service, but he does intend to "just try to rest up from digging all these graves."
   
   "I would like to continue, but the body's wearing down," Penton said.