Carrying on a tradition of service
Jeff Eineder and his family–wife Kristin and children Everett, (left), Liam, and Evelynn, are proud to be taking on a long-standing tradition in Manchester.
Fourteen years ago, when Jeff Eineder was looking ahead to graduation from Napoleon High School, his career choice profile showed that he wanted a career in serving people. Personally, he also knew he wanted to stay in his home area. With his original choice of teaching, he knew that being able to make the second part of his dream a reality would be difficult. But as he learned more about the career of funeral director, which was one of the other choices presented to him, he became drawn to the profession and began job shadowing at the Nichols-Arthur Funeral Home in Michigan Center.
“From there, I fell in love with the profession,” he says. “It’s a combination of ministry and science … when you can move those two things together, it’s a beautiful thing.”
He says the conventional wisdom is that “you don’t choose the profession; the profession chooses you,” and he agrees that was true in his case.
“Not to say that everything has always been perfect,” he admits. “There are always difficult situations. But I’m drawn to people, and to the service aspect of this profession, and I find it very rewarding to help people have a meaningful period during their time of loss.”
After high school graduation in 2007, Jeff attended Schoolcraft College to complete pre-mortuary science classes, later transferring to Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago, and graduated among the best in his class in 2012. He accepted an Apprentice Directors position with Dutcher Funeral Homes in Coldwater and Bronson, and he and Kristin were married in September of that year.
He began work with Borek-Jennings in 2013 after completing his apprenticeship, soon becoming the managing director of their Lamb Chapel in Howell. When asked in 2017 if he was ready to come “home,” he was eager to do so. Jeff has been the Managing Director for the Brooklyn and Manchester chapels since June of 2017, and he and Kristin have been grateful to be back in the area; surrounded by family and friends.
When Karl Jennings and Todd Borek began to look at down-sizing their business, they knew that Jeff was the “right fit, and an obvious choice,” to approach about purchasing the Manchester and Brooklyn funeral homes. And Jeff jumped at the opportunity.
“The personal relationships I had developed in these communities over the last three years have made this a wise decision,” he says. “Everything about this profession is personal. I can’t keep it 100% professional … you need the personal touch; you can’t keep it distant or sterile when you know people personally.”
He truly believes that he is carrying on a legacy, one started 150+ years ago by Ernest Jenter and carried on by his son and grandson; continued by Martin Braun, and by Borek & Jennings for the past 20 years.
And what type of legacy would Jeff and Kristin like to leave in Manchester, when it’s their turn? “I would hope we could live up to the personal relationships the Jenters had, and I hope that history will be grateful that Kristin and I took over these businesses,” Jeff says. “Our objective is to do whatever is in the best interest of the families we serve, and to represent the communities in our service. A community is truly a giant family and I hope when it’s our turn to hand over the reins, whether inside or outside the family, we will find someone who sees these communities as they truly are.”
His goal in serving the Manchester community is to make the funeral home’s new facility on Duncan Street, into a place where everyone is comfortable. “At some point in time, I would like people to feel as comfortable there as they did in the Jenter house,” he added. “Our staff who serves you is remaining the same; the only changes people will see will be very small such as the signage with our name.
“We also want Manchester to know we are here for the community whenever they call on us. Not just for the funeral aspect, but for community involvement. We’re not just going to be there to turn the lights on and off–we are part of this community and we’re going to continue to serve with everyone.”
The Eineders were in the midst of planning meet and greet opportunities at both funeral homes in March, but with current public gathering restrictions, those will be rescheduled, so more people can get to know them personally. “We’ve already been showered with appreciation and love from people in Manchester,” he says. “It’s humbling; I didn’t know what this would feel like.”
He also added that all pre-arranged funeral contracts made while the funeral homes were still Borek-Jennings, will continue to be honored by the Eineder Funeral Homes.
The Eineder Funeral Homes’ new motto is to “guide families and honor loved ones,” and it is something that Jeff and Kristin take very seriously. “It’s a big deal to us,” he says. “It took us almost two months to finalize our decision on that and I think it fits us well. And it’s what we intend to do.”
The Eineder Funeral Homes in Manchester will get new signage in the coming weeks to reflect the new ownership.
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