I recently attended the funeral of a friend that I knew both professionally and socially for many years. His family and friends, of course, were very important to him. My friend had practiced law for over 48 years in Chicago. He specialized in Estate Planning, as well as assisting and advising business clients. He was recognized in the legal community as being a very competent and respected attorney. The funeral service that was held at a local religious venue was well-attended by over 300 people consisting of family, friends and some of his clients.

  While waiting for the service to start I overheard several of his clients sitting behind me talking about my friend’s involvement with their lives. They all felt that he was a very concerned person in addition to being a talented lawyer. He was always available to them. One of them commented that my friend, even though he was very sick, had recently visited him to make sure some matters of concern to the client had been resolved. They all stated his sage advice about their business and personal matters was going to be missed.

  It was a very sad event, but it was even sadder to me because there was very little recognition of my friend’s 48 years of professional experience practicing law in his obituary notice or in the service held for him. All the obituary notice stated was, “He practiced law for 48 years.” At the services the family and his oldest friends talked about how important my friend’s family was to him and some of his charitable activities, but no one really said much about his excellent reputation in the legal community or his extensive services to his many clients.

  My friend, as most of us do, spent a large percentage of his life engaged in his professional activities. I know that he spent at least 11 hours a day commuting and working in downtown Chicago five days a week and often more. He did that probably 49 weeks every year for 48 years. I know from his clients’ comments that he also saw them when necessary over a weekend.

  I realize that the newspapers charge by the word, but this obituary notice was not short. I knew the people at the funeral home that handled the services so I inquired about the lack of recognition of my friend’s professional background. I learned that the family had prepared the obituary notice and I can only speculate about their failure to provide more information in their grief as even though he was sick for a while it went faster than anticipated. Also no one in the family had followed in his footsteps.

  The funeral home has a website with information about services and the deceased person. However, only the obituary notice was on the site. More information about my friend’s professional background could have been easily added at no additional charge, but the funeral director employee did not inquire further as it was not on the list of areas to cover. It is now.

  My title indicates that in my opinion an opportunity to better serve a family and the deceased was missed. It will not be missed in the future by the funeral home that handled my friend’s service. My hope is that everyone that reads this column will make sure that the subject of any person’s lifetime career is also covered during the discussions with a family about a service. Even if someone has been retired for a while before their death there should be an inquiry about their career so proper recognition is provided.