Photo by Emmett Clower Tom Wages, Jr., Valerie Wages, picture of Tommy Wages, Sr, Rick Johnson, and Sam Johnson.

Photo by Emmett Clower (L-R) Valerie Wages, Tom Wages, Jr, Sam Johnson, and Rick Johnson.

By Sheila Adcock

Tom Wages, Sr. always wanted to be a funeral director. Even as a small child he played “funeral director”, using his father’s toolboxes and his grandmother’s linens to make small caskets. He created a little fenced cemetery for his pets or other small animals that had died. His grandfather wanted him to be a doctor, but after serving a stint on a destroyer in the Navy, he went to work at F.Q. Sammon Funeral Home. Actually, he approached the legendary Mr. Sammon and begged to work for him. He graduated from mortuary school in Cleveland, met and married Mildred Dodosh, and returned to Georgia to create the family funeral business institution that is today known as Tom M. Wages Funeral Home.

Many Gwinnett residents remember Mr. Wages—a garrulous, sharply dressed southern gentleman, who warmly greeted everyone. His son-in-law, Rick Johnson, says, “He was such a people person. When you asked, ‘Who is that?’ he’d say, ‘I’m going to tell you just one time who that is.’ His memory and concern for people was an inspiration!”

Rick said, “He (Tom Wages, Sr.) loved to work with the body. He learned embalming from the best—Quill Sammon. His care, preparation and respect for the body were critical to him.” Mr. Wages loved to apply cosmetics and create a beautiful look for each of his clients. Rick said, “He taught me exactly how he did this. He could take a woman who had suffered through illness or spent extended time in a nursing facility and make her look like a ‘prom queen’.” Valerie Wages, first of Tom Wages’ children, believes, “Rick’s skills in restorative work, cosmetic application and care of the loved one make him one of the best embalmers and cosmeticians in the business today.”

With the death of Tom Wages, Sr., the businesses are now co-owned by his oldest child and daughter, Valerie Wages, and son-in-law and daughter, Rick and Tommie Ann Wages Johnson. Valerie’s focus is on customer service and “taking care of families”, while Rick oversees operations with location managers, Alan Johnson and Chris Banks.

Other family members involved in the business are Sam Johnson, son of Rick and Tommie Ann, and youngest child, Tom M. Wages, Jr., now in mortuary school at Georgia College at Milledgeville.

This business has been sustained by creating a heritage of service. Valerie says, “Today, this is more important than ever. In a fast paced, non-traditional environment, people make decisions not only based on generational loyalties, but because of convenience and time constraints. When seeking assistance or purchasing services, consumers consider traffic patterns, time savings, reputation of the business and benefits to themselves as customers.” In light of this, Wages has continued to remodel and expand. Both locations (Snellville and Lawrenceville) have large community rooms where families can hold receptions following a service in the chapel. They have their own crematory, and do not perform cremations for other funeral homes.

From the time of the Great Depression and WW II, traditional services and a wake held in the family home was typical. Today, baby boomers and Generation X’ers have job and other obligations or may be traveling from out of state for funerals. The challenging economy is also a consideration. These factors have resulted in increased decisions to choose cremation. With cremation, the family can choose to forgo purchasing a vault, casket and cemetery plot.

Valerie said, “I believe viewing is important. Research and psychological studies show that farewells make for fewer struggles on the grief journey. There can still be a viewing with cremation. The family can use a rental casket, where the insert and deceased will be taken to the crematory for a service. Then, later the ashes can be taken for burial elsewhere. A viewing helps the family accept the death.”

The Wages team members are acutely listening as families come for consultation. With the increasing diversity in the community, families may request various types of services for religious beliefs outside former cultural norms. Wages Funeral Home is able to meet the needs of each family because, Valerie says, “Listening is important, since we don’t want a cookie-cutter approach. We are celebrating the heritage of each family. For example, we are seeing an increase in forwarding remains of a loved one back to the home country for burial. Recently we had our first Native American funeral with the complete celebratory headgear and native dress wear. We respond quickly to changes in needs. Families plan for weddings for six months, a year or more. But, with a funeral, you are commemorating a life of 85 years, with only 2-3 days of planning. And, you cannot back up and ‘do over’.”

Valerie said, “When a family calls us to take their loved one into our care, what an honor to be entrusted with this!” The entire Wages team is passionate about their responsibility to each client/family. And, they are supportive of each other’s skills and how each family member adds to the heritage of caring begun by Tom M. Wages, Sr. Rick said, “When Valerie consults with the families, she is energized. It is thrilling to see the care she administers to each one.” This is a family comforting families through the journey of grief.

To learn more about this tradition and the family, visit them at www.wagesfuneralhome.com.