By Thomas A. Parmalee
In a profession where recognition often comes quietly — if at all — the National Funeral Directors Association has a way of calling attention to stories that resonate.
This year, one of those stories belongs to Jennifer Schlosser.
When Schlosser, a licensed funeral director, embalmer, preneed insurance agent and co-owner of Schlosser Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Wapakoneta, Ohio learned she had been named the 2026 Inspiration Award recipient, her first reaction wasn’t celebration. It was disbelief.
“I was completely shocked!” she said.
She knew she had been nominated for the award sponsored by National Guardian Life Insurance by a member of the OFDA YFD (the Ohio Funeral Directors Association Young Funeral Directors) committee, which she had co-chaired until aging out earlier this year when she turned 40, she said. That in itself, she considered a tremendous honor.
So, when she was asked to join a Zoom call with NFDA representatives to share her insights in helping young funeral directors, she took the request at face value. To her surprise, when she logged on, Christine Pepper, CEO of the NFDA; Lorri Wagner, director of business development with the NFDA; and a representative from NGL surprised her with some big news: She was the winner of this year’s Inspiration Award, which was established to recognize women who take the initiative to mentor, lead and inspire their colleagues.
“I was speechless!” Schlosser said.
That reaction — equal parts humility and authenticity — threads through Schlosser’s story. Because despite the national recognition, she still sees herself in simpler terms: “I just feel like I am just Jenn — a regular funeral director in a regular town doing what all funeral directors do,” she said.
Some very important people, however, see things differently.
“Jennifer’s story is one that so many in funeral service will recognize and admire,” Pepper said. “She is building a business, raising a family and showing up for her community in ways that are both visible and deeply personal. Whether she’s mentoring the next generation, creating meaningful moments for families or simply being present when it matters most, Jennifer leads with heart. That’s what makes her truly deserving of this recognition.”
Judy Olson, vice president, sales and business development, at NGL, said, “Jennifer’s impact is felt not just in the services she provides to grieving families, but in the relationships she builds and the community she helps strengthen.”
She added, “From the personal touches she brings to every family she serves to the way she supports and uplifts others in the profession, she represents the kind of leadership and compassion this award was created to honor. We are proud to recognize her as this year’s Inspiration Award recipient.”
A Curiosity that Never Left
Schlosser’s path into funeral service didn’t begin with a family legacy or a long-term plan. It started with a question.
“Twenty-five years ago, last summer, my grandmother passed away,” she recalled. “I was just really curious about what they did with her.”
That curiosity deepened before she started high school, and by her junior year, she was job shadowing at Chiles-Laman Funeral & Cremation Services in Lima, Ohio, where her father knew the owner. Her work was done strictly on a volunteer basis, she said.
“At that point, I’m sure neither of us thought it would pan out to anything,” she said.
But it did.
Schlosser spent two years at the funeral home — nights, weekends and summers —absorbing every detail of the profession.
“I learned how to park cars, answer the phone,” she said. “Throughout those couple years of high school, there was nothing else I seriously wanted to pursue.”
What kept her interested was more than the work. She gives a lot of credit to the people.
“The people at the firm where I job shadowed in high school, served my apprenticeship and the first seven years of licensure inspired me from the beginning,” she said. “I never felt like I was a teenager in their way. That encouraged me to continue spending weekends and time out of school there, eventually experiencing more and more aspects of the career.”
It made her decision to attend the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science easy.
“Now, I have been honored to speak with a few women who are considering entering into funeral service,” she said. “That is a full circle moment … sharing my story with them and answering their questions, guiding them as they decide about entering the funeral profession.”
Building Something from the Ground Up
After graduating from mortuary school in 2007, Schlosser began her apprenticeship before becoming a licensed funeral director and embalmer in 2008.
Meanwhile, her future husband, Brian — whom she met in 2004 — was building something of his own.
Working third shift as a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office to save money, he purchased land and began constructing what would become Schlosser Funeral Home & Cremation Services.
The two were introduced by a mutual friend.
“We got married in 2008. I became licensed that year, and he opened the funeral home that winter,” she said.
At first, the two operated on parallel tracks — Schlosser was working full-time in Lima while Brian ran the new firm independently. On Jan. 15, 2015, she made the transition and joined the firm her husband started.
“Now it is truly just the two of us,” she said, noting that they do lean on a few part-time employees as needed for some assistance. “We answer the phone 24/7, do transfers, embalming — everything.”
Serving several dozen families annually, the firm remains intentionally small and deeply personal.
The Power of Personalization
Ask Schlosser what the Inspiration Award represents, and she doesn’t point to leadership titles or professional milestones. She points to moments.
“I enjoy the quiet, creative moments that transform a ‘standard’ funeral to one that is unique,” she said.
Those moments are often built on details that many would overlook—custom vault carapaces, themed display tables or subtle additions to floral arrangements “like ladybugs,” she said.
It may also mean coordinating with others to create a display table with mini honey bears or a sign from the farmer’s market, she said.
“While these things may take a few extra moments or phone calls, the smiles from our families continue to show that the attention to details make all the difference,” she said.
For Schlosser, personalization isn’t an add-on. It’s the core component of meaningful service.
A Family Business in Every Sense
Operating a funeral home is demanding. Doing so while raising three children adds another layer of complexity — especially when both owners are also the only full-time employees.
“We are a busy family,” she said.
Sustainability, in this case, depends on something many in the profession understand well: support systems.
“Without the help of grandparents, specifically Brian’s parents, and especially when the kids were little, it wouldn’t be sustainable,” she said. “We are blessed with a village of family and friends who understand our schedule changes with any phone call, and they are willing to step up and help. While our kids may have the temporary disappointment of needing to turn around while on the way to something fun, they know that we always make it up, and I hope that as they get older, they will understand our why.”
Even with all the help, however, she notes that both she and her husband are constantly moving.
“In addition to being dually licensed, my husband is the fiscal officer for our township and fire chief of our local, volunteer fire and rescue department,” she said. “Our three kids at home enjoy sports, art camps and being with their friends.”
While she’ll be happy if her children join the profession, she wants them each to pursue their own dreams and what makes them happy. “This is definitely not a profession you can force someone into,” she said.
Redefining Community Engagement
Schlosser’s impact extends well beyond the walls of her funeral home. While she offers traditional outreach like preplanning seminars and sponsors local youth sporting teams, her firm’s approach to community engagement is notably unconventional.
“I’ve been seeing how the community reacts to outside-the-box ideas — and so far, they are loving them,” she said.
Those ideas include paying for ice cream on National Soft Serve Ice Cream Day, hosting two hours of free bowling on Presidents Day when children were out of school, covering admission to a local YMCA splash pad for a day, and even picking up tabs at local coffee shops.
“The community takes part in all these events, and they appreciate them,” she said. “It is a great way to have our funeral home be like every other local business in town,” she said. “We aren’t all doom and gloom.”
The strategy is deliberate: normalize the funeral home as a visible, approachable part of everyday community life, which includes making its social media presence more than an obituary digest.
“I believe it helps people to see us as approachable, human and as a vibrant part of our community,” she said.
If there’s one thing she wants the public to understand, it is that funeral directors are just like them.
“We are human, just like them. I’ll laugh and cry alongside them during their journey with us.”
Service as a Calling
Schlosser’s philosophy of service extends into her work with church, schools and organizations like the American Red Cross.
“Service is a gift,” she said. “It’s a gift of yourself to others, but it’s also a gift to yourself.”
That perspective informs how she views both her profession and her community role.
“By being part of parish council, supporting the PTO and volunteering with the American Red Cross, I get to take care of those who take care of me and my family,” she said. “My faith has grown while learning all the ‘inner workings’ of our parish. My appreciation for teachers has grown while working book fairs. It’s encouraging to see everyone who stops at the registration desk to donate blood … for a complete stranger they will never know.”
She carries with her a fundamental belief: “Everything that you put out through service to others will come back to you – and it is always worth it,” she said.
Mentorship and the Profession’s Future
In her role as northwest regional director with the Ohio Funeral Directors Association, Schlosser has focused heavily on recruitment and retention —an issue she sees as critical.
She noted that the OFDA Recruitment and Retention Task Force was created to focus on sharing strategies to recruit qualified employees while retaining competent staff.
“The number of mortuary school graduates becoming licensed and then leaving the profession within a few years is concerning,” she said.
At the center of that challenge is a shifting definition of work-life balance.
“Most students, apprentices and young licensees are willing to put in the work and pour out themselves to serve others, but they expect to be able to refill their cup, too,” she said. “While those expectations need to be realistic for the location, size and type of firm they are working for, funeral homes also need to consider their willingness to change.”
To attract potential employees and to keep the ones they have, she firmly believes more firms must focus on work-life balance.
The Evolving Role of Women in Funeral Service
Schlosser has witnessed a significant shift in gender dynamics over the course of her career.
“As a junior in high school, job shadowing at my local funeral home, all the women who worked there were in supporting staff roles,” she said. “At mortuary school, about half of my graduating class were female. In the early years of licensure, I knew of a few female directors, but none who I worked side by side with.”
When she joined the OFDA board of directors, she was pleased to see other women like herself stepping up to shape the profession.
“In smaller communities, the public may not realize the shift of licensees to becoming predominantly female, but where there are many licensees gathered, the change is evident,” she said.
However, some outdated perceptions persist.
“There are times when the public still expects the funeral director to be a man,” she said.
For instance, she shared that her father-in-law once worked as a part-time employee at the funeral home, and if someone had come out of town for a funeral, they would automatically turn to him to ask a question or strike up a conversation instead of her – even though she’s a full-time staff member and partner of the firm.
“There is still some of that,” she said.
Another challenge is simply balancing the demands of motherhood with working in funeral service.
“When I was still working full time in Lima, there were days I went to work before my son got out of bed and came home and he was already in bed,” she said. “It can be hard learning to navigate that.”
Fortunately, working with her husband and running her own firm offers more flexibility. She has more say over her schedule and can be more present, she said.
Staying Grounded
Despite national recognition, Schlosser remains anchored in a mindset that prioritizes growth over accolades.
“I didn’t really enter this profession with a game plan … or thinking that in 18 years I want to win this award,” she said. “You are going to make mistakes and there will be things you have to learn from — you just take those as part of growth instead of being deterred.”
That perspective may be the clearest explanation for why she was selected for the Inspiration Award in the first place.
Because in a profession built on presence, consistency, and quiet impact, Schlosser shows that excellence isn’t always loud.
Often, it looks like showing up — again and again — with care, creativity and a willingness to serve.
And sometimes, as Schlosser is now learning, others are paying closer attention than you think.
Schlosser will be presented with her award during the NFDA Professional Women’s Conference, taking place May 6 through 9 in St. Pete Beach, Florida.
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