The Quiram-Peasley Funeral Home is in Atlanta, Illinois. This business was owned by the Quiram family starting with Gordon Quiram in the 1940s. His children, John and Jim, continued the family legacy until Don Peasley took over in September 2006. Now, the funeral home has been independently owned and operated by Don Peasley, a funeral director since 1993. Don purchased his first funeral home in Lincoln in 2002, known as the Peasley Funeral Home. His sister, Krystal Peasley Salvator also works as a partner and licensed funeral director. 

A funeral director helps clients and families work through the legal and emotional processes surrounding a death. They use all the information and ideas to make sure the person receives the type of funeral they wanted for their loved ones to experience. The skills that a funeral director needs to possess include listening, empathy, attention to detail, communication, and leadership qualities. A funeral director is educated by taking courses in the science of embalming, the history of religion and burial customs, psychology, sociology, law, and accounting.

This type of work is very fluid, making the workers on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as Krystal Salvator said, “No two days are the same.” The day can start with typical office work and tasks. These duties include paperwork, funeral work, vehicle, property, and building maintenance. Within a moment’s notice, they can receive a call to serve the immediate needs of a family. 

The emotions of the job can be overwhelming at points. It gets challenging and stressful to be dealing with the death of human beings. So, it is important for them to have their own family time, too. There is a balance between personal care and work-life that can not interfere with one another.

Overall, the Quiram-Peasley Funeral Home has the goal of serving families while providing personal service. They also are going to remain family operated. It is important to develop community relationships within a small town and business. Don Peasley or Krystal Salvator can be contacted at peasleymemorials@outlook.com or by phone (217) 648-2001.