2019 SIU Distinguished Alumni Awards— Young Alumni Achievement
Thomas and Traci Macz — B.S. 2004 Mortuary Science and Funeral Services; College of Applied Science & Arts and Liberal Arts
When Tom and Traci Macz met in the Mortuary Science and Funeral Service program at SIU Carbondale, they had little idea that a course of study so focused on our transition from this world to the next would lead them to such a life affirming future.
The couple currently owns and operates four funeral homes in Marion County, Illinois, a situation which occurs rarely, since neither Tom nor Traci grew up in the business and most funeral homes are run by multi-generational families known for having somewhat impenetrable ranks.
But while their entrée into the field might seem coincidental, both Tom and Traci feel that their success was written in the stars.
Traci grew up in Sandoval: her father worked in construction, and her mother was a hairdresser who also did beautician work for the deceased. As a child, Traci would accompany her mother on those jobs, so she grew up “acclimated” to the industry at a very young age.
“Which was good, because once I went to college, my mom got pretty insistent that I find a job during my Christmas and summer breaks. In fact, when I came home for break my freshman year she said ‘I have a job lined up for you,” and it happened to be with Day Funeral Homes, one of her clients,” Traci said.
Traci said that job had her doing everything from vacuuming and washing the cars, to helping out with services, and it really opened her eyes to the business.
“I felt comfortable with what I was doing and saw the need in the community, so eventually I told my mom I was interested in taking mortuary science classes as part of my classwork at SIU Carbondale. She said ‘that’s a good idea. You need a major’,” Traci laughed.
Tom had a similar trajectory.
“I’m from Wateska, Illinois. My parents ran a restaurant and my dad worked for the power company. At 17 I was lucky enough to find a part-time job that allowed me to work after school and during the summers, and that happened to be at Knapp Funeral Homes,” Tom said.
Tom said he too, felt comfortable with the industry, so much so that he also decided to pursue a degree in Mortuary Science and Funeral Service.
“I was also in the first generation in my family to go to college, and the program at SIU Carbondale was one of the first bachelor’s degrees in the field that I had heard of, and it was a great decision, Tom said.
One of the other best decisions he ever made was not listening to the nay-sayers who discouraged him from pursuing a relationship with Traci.
“The discouragement we met up with came purely from a professional place. At the time there were very few females in the business and the possibility that Tom and I could find work at the same place of business seemed slim,” Traci said.
But they persevered. And after graduating in 2004, they began to interview to find a place to do their post-degree internships — like teaching or the medical field, mortuary science majors are required to apprentice with licensed facilities and pass national board exams.
Tom spent some time up north working with Knapp Funeral Homes which had sustained him in his part-time work as a young man, and continued interviewing, keeping the faith that their work and their world, would eventually find unity.
Their belief in each other and in their career path eventually panned out, and with the help of references by Steve Dunker, Tom and Traci eventually served their apprenticeship at Hurley Funeral Home in Petersburg and Mason City, Ilinois.
After their apprenticeship, they returned to Tom’s hometown of Watseka to work together at Knapp Funeral Homes. During this time the couple worked on accumulating as much savings as they could. They knew that if the opportunity arose they wanted to go into business for themselves, but after five years that opportunity still seemed to be a dream.
“We decided to take a trip to Chicago just to get away and talk about whether we were going to buy a house and start a family, or just where god was taking us,” Tom said.
Tom said they were waiting in line for a table at a restaurant to sit down and discuss the matter, when the phone rang.
“Believe it or not, it was Dennis Day, the owner of the funeral home in Sandoval. He called to tell us that his brother was retiring, and that he, himself was ready to retire, and he wanted to know if we could we come down there in two weeks to work for him,” Tom said.
Traci adds that he was totally persistent.
“He wanted us to make the decision right then and there. He was excited about giving us the opportunity, and wanted us to be excited also. And we were ready for the push. We had been saving as much as we could to prepare for this kind of opportunity and were on the verge of buying a home and saving all we had socked away for our retirement,” Traci said.
They realized that the opportunity they faced was rare.
“You don’t get the opportunity to purchase a multi-generational family funeral home business every day. In fact, it almost never happens. But we were blessed,” Tom said.
So in February of 2011, Tom and Traci followed their heart and took a leap of faith. They quit their jobs, packed their belongings, and moved to southern Illinois without a firm purchase date, just the belief that this was what they were supposed to be doing.
“We took a dramatic cut in pay when we moved down here. We were making about 25 percent of the salary we made up north, so for the next year Tom worked with my father doing construction on the side, and I worked as a substitute teacher just to make ends meet,” Traci said.
Things happened so fast they didn’t even have a business plan. Luckily they signed up for a small business tax course at Kaskaskia College’s Small Business Incubator, and ended up being the only two people to attend.
“We went there to learn about taxes, but ended up meeting Riley Barker, a small business expert who was there to teach the class. Over the next several months, he helped us get together a business proposal and meet with area banks. I still don’t think we’ve talked about taxes, but he’s sure helped us get our business off the ground,” Tom laughed.
From there things just blossomed. Tom and Traci took over management of Day Funeral Homes in late 2012, and in 2013, they purchased the business which included sites in Sandoval and Patoka, IL, and the name changed to Day Macz Funeral Homes.
2013 also saw the arrival of their first-born son, George, and while the folks at the bank may have thought they were crazy, in 2015, the couple further expanded, purchasing Irvin Funeral Homes with locations in Centralia and Odin, Illinois, from the family of the late Larry Irvin.
The couple welcomed their second son, Charlie in 2018 and currently live above the funeral home in Sandoval, just like the three generations of families directing the business have always done.
So how do they keep up with it all?
“It takes a village. We have an amazing staff, everyone pitches in. When Traci’s mom passed away last year the number of people who have stepped up to help us with all aspects of our personal and professional life has been just amazing,” Tom said
But Traci said that the sorrow that came with her mother’s passing has made them better funeral directors.
“I thought I understood grief by looking at it in the eyes a couple times per week. I thought I got it to an extent, that I was somewhat prepared for it. But I was truly wrong. It’s breathtaking how suddenly she went,” Traci said.
But despite the sorrow, the future is bright. The couple is looking forward to settling in and raising their family, and to stewarding the gifts that have been given to them. They are embracing changes in the industry that are moving toward ecological burials, and have an active Facebook page to keep pace with the next generation.
“This is our ministry, and we have faith that this is what we are supposed to be doing. We have been able to step into these businesses and allow the people who ran those business and cared for these communities to know we are continuing their legacy. We hire local people to work with us. We love our community. It’s personal for us,” Tom said.
Tom and Traci Macz are the recipients of the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award for Young Alumni Achievement. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday, April 26, in the SIU Student Center Auditorium. There will be a reception following in the International Lounge. All SIU Alumni, students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public, are invited to attend.
