Suzanne Blue, executive director of Matt Talbot Kitchen, is happy to talk about Jim Love.
Jim Love, who spent 46 years in the funeral business.
Jim Love, who spent 23 years — and counting — serving hot meals to the homeless.
Jim Love, who she loves.
“His heart is huge,†she says.
Everybody says the same thing about the soft-spoken, kind man whose father was a funeral director before him — and whose son will carry the title forward.
“He’s just a wonderful man,†says Monsignor James Dawson. “I was a priest and he was a server at Mass at the Veterans Hospital; I’ve known him since he was a little boy.â€
The funeral director officially retired from Butherus, Maser and Love last month and will be honored Sunday afternoon at an open house there.
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“To him it was not a career, but it was a calling,†said fellow funeral director Joe Roberts. “He’s devoted his entire life to his work.â€
The two met in the late '60s, when Roberts came to Lincoln to serve his funeral home apprenticeship and a young Jim Love had just gotten out of the Army and was heading off to San Francisco to attend mortuary college.
“I started Jan. 1, 1971, and I’ve been there ever since,†Love said last week. “I never had another job after that.â€
And he never longed for one.
“I’ve enjoyed every day of my job, and not very many people can say that.â€
He liked helping people when they needed it most. He liked the people he worked with. The family philosophy and bonds that formed with those who came to him in their darkest days.
It helped, he says, that he and his wife, Mary, started every day the same way: in prayer.
“Just asking the Lord to help me with all that takes place.â€
Love grew up knowing death was a part of life. Watching his father’s ways.
“Dad was very compassionate to families. We never pressured a family, we never believed in that.â€
Jim and Mary Love have two sons and a daughter, and John, their eldest, will carry on the funeral home tradition.
“One thing I’m totally proud of is John continuing on,†says Jim Love. “Third generation, that means a lot.â€
Jan Frayser knows John’s younger siblings — Anne and Jason — from their years at Pius X, where she is the director of guidance. She knows Mary and Jim, too.
“He is the most genuine Christ-like person, I know.â€
Frayser knew Jim Love as a caring father, and later watched him in his role as the attending funeral director after the deaths of students, former students, young parents, and others.
“I got to see firsthand Jim’s caring ways as he cared for these grieving families,†she says. “Every single death he dealt with was someone you believed he personally knew and was personally grieving for — that’s how much he cared.â€
The caring comes naturally, said fellow funeral director Roberts. “He was always very concerned about people being treated the proper way; he was proud it was a family-oriented business.â€
Love isn’t entirely retired. He helped with a recent funeral, and will continue to assist when he’s needed.
And he and Mary will continue to help at Matt Talbot. Last year, they received the soup kitchen and outreach center's Compassion in Action award.
He will be a busy man in his retirement. Spending a day each week at Catholic Social Services, helping pack and cart groceries to cars for families.
He’s training for a volunteer stint at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, too. Driving and conducting the train. So far, so good, he said.
“I went out Monday and actually drove the train; there’s more to it than you think.â€
Like remembering to blow the whistle. And calling out cheer to the children.
“I just love it,†says the grandfather of 13.
He’ll continue going to daily Mass, sometimes slipping into the chapel at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, where the priest he assisted at the Veterans Hospital so long ago now lives.
Often, the funeral director stays to visit with Dawson.
“I’m 88 this year and many, many years ago I made arrangements so Butherus, Maser and Love will have my funeral,†the retired priest says.
“I hope Jimmy Love is still living to do my service.â€