{"id":13190,"date":"2022-05-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/?p=13190"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:43:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T14:43:36","slug":"serving-compassion-to-the-ones-who-have-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/serving-compassion-to-the-ones-who-have-lost\/","title":{"rendered":"Serving compassion to the ones who have lost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>TOMMY GRAHAM\u2019S uncommon job is not one many would choose. Known to many for his mortuary work, people naturally ask why he would choose such a career. \u201cTruthfully, I really don\u2019t know why. It was just something that I wanted to do,\u201d Graham said. His grandfather and uncle were old country undertakers, and as a boy, his mother told him stories about them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following his high school graduation from the old Lincoln County High School, Graham graduated from John A. Gupton College in Nashville with an associate degree in mortuary science. The Funeral Directors Association recently awarded him a plaque for his 50 years of service. And although he may not understand what drew him to the work, he does know why he does it \u2013 for the people.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are the people you know, these are the people you love, and these are the people you want to serve,\u201d Graham said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continued, \u201cMy reason for doing this for all of my life has been, and will continue to be, to help people get through a difficult time and make it just a little more bearable. I\u2019m one little bitty member of a big team. I\u2019ve had the privilege of working with these guys and ladies, and we\u2019re just a big family at the funeral home. But it\u2019s not only us, it\u2019s ministers, neighbors, friends, community, and everybody combined trying to make a horrible time easier for people.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13196\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-1080x1619.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-980x1469.jpg 980w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661-480x720.jpg 480w, https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/02\/DSC02661.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Graham said, \u201cIt\u2019s a job you can\u2019t take home with you.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s also not his only job.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Graham has pastored at McBurg First Baptist Church in Dellrose, Tennessee, for the past 10 years. The small country church fits him perfectly. As a people person, he\u2019s happy knowing everyone by their first name. He builds a connection and church family that people dream of.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Graham said, \u201cI\u2019ve never had a desire to pastor a church with several hundred members because I like to know what\u2019s going on, have a feel of the heartbeat of the church.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A fan of Tennessee football and \u201cGunsmoke\u201d, Graham enjoys working in his yard and spending time with his wife, their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. He said God\u2019s given him a wonderful family, wonderful people at work, and the best people on the face of this Earth \u2013 the people in Lincoln County. Everyone he loves and cares about \u2013 friends, family, congregation, community \u2013 is always close by.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of the day, Graham\u2019s prayer is the same.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy prayer is that you don\u2019t see me. There\u2019s nothing to look at here. But please, let somebody see Jesus in my life.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The summary of his life would be easy, he said. \u201cGod\u2019s been so good to me.\u201d <strong>-GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TOMMY GRAHAM\u2019S uncommon job is not one many would choose. Known to many for his mortuary work, people naturally ask why he would choose such a career. \u201cTruthfully, I really don\u2019t know why. It was just something that I wanted to do,\u201d Graham said. His grandfather and uncle were old country undertakers, and as a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":13195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Serving compassion to the ones who have lost - Fayetteville, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/fayetteville\/serving-compassion-to-the-ones-who-have-lost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Serving compassion to the ones who have lost - Fayetteville, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TOMMY GRAHAM\u2019S uncommon job is not one many would choose. 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