David’s passing trade

Aride in one of David Bull’s “taxis,” as the hearses are known around town, has been the final chapter in the life of many locals over the years.
The jovial funeral director has been a comforting presence for families in their darkest hours, with some entrusting him to farewell three generations.
He has seen things that some could not even imagine, from the horrors of road trauma, to murders and the passing of children.
He has seen family feuds come to a head at funerals, escalating into punch-ons and arrests; he has had someone die at a funeral, seen people sink to the low of sniffing around for money after a death.
But there are also good stories, funny stories that have made David a popular guest speaker at local clubs and functions.
“It’s an interesting job. I’ve always said when I retire I will write a book about my experiences,” he said.
It is also a misunderstood industry.
“It’s misunderstood because it’s always been kept in the dark – no pun intended,” David said.
“Death can be a serious and hurtful subject to talk about, and funeral directors have kept it to themselves.”
A Frankston boy, David moved to Kooweerup when he married local girl Betsie and followed in the footsteps of his father, also in the funeral industry, by setting up shop near the Royal Hotel in 1979.
“We borrowed $8000 – $6000 went to a secondhand hearse and the other $2000 went on secondhand equipment,” he said.
In the first year, he oversaw 11 funerals.
The business has grown and now looks after 320 to 350 services a year in Pakenham, Cranbourne and Drouin.
David came to Pakenham in 1982, when he renovated an old chapel on Bald Hill Road.
In the mid-’80s he went to Drouin, buying the former shire offices, and extended to Cranbourne in 1986.
In 1991 he bought the acre and a quarter on the corner of Princes Highway and Pakenham Road, where the business remains today. David lives next door.
“If someone wants to arrange a funeral at two in the morning, we can do it at two in the morning. If they come to drop something off on a Saturday morning, I’m here.”
In the past, it was common for there to be a residence on the same site as the chapel, but things are changing in the industry.
Coffins are getting roomier, services more personalised, and families have a range of options when it comes to ashes.
“You can get remains made into a diamond, scattered from a plane or a pyrotechnic fella can shoot them out of fireworks,” Davidsaid.
“The majority do scatter them. We loan urns rather than giving the ashes in a cardboard box; and we’ve never had any mix-ups – touch wood.”
David said the funeral industry was not heavily regulated, with anyone technically able to conduct a service.
“There are three levels – the big corporations, the middle, and then the ones that buy a secondhand hearse and use a factory to store the vehicles with a cool room for the bodies.”
The Privacy Act has also provided some headaches.
“We lodge forms online with Births, Deaths and Marriages but we can’t physically see it to ensure it’s correct. It goes straight to the family and if there is a mistake, they have to fix it at their own cost, where we used to do it free of charge. It is bureaucracy at its best.
“A common question people ask is if we take the coffin back (before a cremation). We’ve never taken a coffin back. It goes in there and is consumed as well.”
Coffins range from $895 to $34,000 for a polished bronze casket with 24-carat gold handles, although David has never had a request for one of those.
The company is one of the few in the industry willing to take on work experience students, and have people come from as far as Echuca, Moe, Rochester and Warrnambool, as well as locals, to try their hand in the business.
“A lot of companies don’t take work experience students because they are frightened of what they will tell people – but here what you see out the front is the same all the way through,” David said.
“We involve work experience people with everything. If it is a career they want to follow, they need to see every aspect.”
David’s two brothers are in the business, and his daughter Melissa and her husband Tony run the Drouin chapel. His other daughter, Morelle, chose a different path.
“She is a senior analyst with the ACC. When she was at home, she would not even pick up the phone if she knew it was a business call,” David said.
But now David is looking forward to his grand-daughter and her partner joining the family trade, making four generations of funeral directors from the Bull family.
The nature of his work with death also means David has learnt some important lessons about life.
“People should talk with their families more, try and resolve issues. Unresolved grief burns a hole in the stomach,” he said.