Great Big Story visited with James Edward Smith Jr., a restoration instructor at the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service in Texas. Smith spoke compassionately about the extraordinary art of providing facial restoration services to those who may have suffered an injury to their face or head in death, particularly to the family of the deceased. Smith has his students recreate a face of their choosing and reminds them to pay attention to even the smallest of details while encouraging them to practice as much as they can.
Taking on the assignment requires each of the students to understand the proportions for the features of the face here in school because it translates to what may happen in the actual preparation room. It is an acquired skill the more you practice the more proficient the better you’re going to become …we need to have as much care when handling the deceased as if they were in the hospital under the care of a doctor.
