>> I'd like to think overall, they'd be pleased with how I'm running the business now because I try to keep the focus the same as they did.

You know, people.

They put their blood, sweat and tears into this building in Arlington, Virginia, on Shirlington Road into this business -- Chinn Funeral Service.

Chinn-Baker Funeral Service.

And so I want to honor that.

Honoring what they did here in this place, in this community, and making sure we stay consistent with the values that they had set forth.

♪♪ >> Shawn Baker, director of Chinn-Baker, and staff member Richard Logan are starting their workday likely just as Mr. Chinn did back in the 1940s when he first founded Chinn Funeral Services.

Setting his intentions on making this a service to the community that they deserve and have come to count on.

But it hasn't always been that way.

The way for Chinn and countless other black Arlingtonians over several centuries has been to find a way.

The African American experience in Arlington, Virginia, is vast and historic.

We can see it if we journey back a bit.

Since the 1600s, Arlington has been their home in some form or fashion, a place barring a line from David Walker's appeal to the colored citizens of the world where their blood and tears is in the soil.

From the pre- and post- Civil War's Freedmen's Village to Queen City, to Hall's Hill, Highview Park, Johnson Hill to Green Valley.

In every nook and cranny of Arlington, black folks have survived, thrived, hoped, dreamed, lived.

Take, for example, Arlington House, the majestically columned structure that sits on a hill overlooking the final resting place of President John F. Kennedy in Arlington Cemetery.

The house and the land surrounding President Kennedy's gravesite is intricately tied to the black experience in Arlington.

Completed in 1818, Arlington House, from which the city takes its name, was owned and conceived by the step grandson of George Washington.

It was the first memorial to America's first president, and it was built with the labor of enslaved African Americans on the then-Arlington plantation.

On that land in the midst of the Civil War, formerly enslaved African Americans turned Freedman's Village into a thriving community.

As many as 1,500 called it home.

Schools were there, a hospital, a post office, care for the elderly, eateries, churches, land to farm and till, all of it creating a sense of ownership, a feeling that would propel its residents to dream of what could be.

>> Also, at Freedmen's Village in the schools, they had teachers that were known to them.

Like, Sojourner Truth came and taught.

Frederick Douglass came and taught, and William Syphax did the curriculum for the schools at Freedmen's Village.

>> For nearly four decades, Freedmen's Village served as a sanctuary of sorts for African Americans in Arlington.

In a sense, it was their living monument to self-determination, perseverance.

But in another sense, Freedmen's Village was somewhat of an island onto itself, cordoned off by a world often suspicious and hostile to its existence and its inhabitants.

Emancipation brought freedom from slavery.

Then Jim Crow brought a new century-long type of a freedom fight, a system meant to keep blacks segregated, in their place, denying them the rights of full citizenship.

Blacks in Arlington did not bow down to Jim Crow, but faced it standing up.

Racial housing covenants blocked blacks from living in and purchasing homes in large chunks of Arlington.

Barriers to voting were put into place.

Black neighborhoods like Queen City demolished to make way for the Pentagon, with the displaced residents left to scatter and make do.

The hardships of living under Jim Crow forged kinship ties, requiring a reliance and dependence on community.

It is in Arlington where the African American community joined together to break down the walls of segregation at schools, lunch counters, buses, water fountains.

If they couldn't shop at particular establishments, they established their own, bolstered by the patronage of the familiar who lived next door, down the street, around the corner or just a few miles away.

If there was no funeral parlor willing to provide homegoing services for their loved ones, black Arlingtonians created their own, which would serve them.

If local newspapers ignored their stories of their everyday lives, Arlington's African Americans produced an independent paper of their own.

No fire department in their neighborhood of Hall's Hill.

They created one.

>> The reason why we had a fire station was because the white stations didn't come to the black communities, so the blacks had to establish their own volunteer company and learn their own tactics to put fires out.

>> They established churches, barbershops, restaurants, taxicab service, pharmacies, grocery stores, and other businesses that met the needs and wants of a community.

The people, from the ordinary to the extraordinary, propelled the community forward with a resilience and resolve.

The names -- like Syphax, forever cemented in the history of Arlington -- Chinn, Baker, John Robinson, Charles Drew, Doc Muse, Dorothy Hamm -- They fought for equality, representation, respect.

They fought the Nazi Party, headquartered right in their backyard.

Though countered with courage and resistance, those roadblocks to progress has left wounds yet to heal for at least one of Arlington's most prominent natives.

>> Of course, it was very, very tough for blacks in this area because of the Nazi Party's headquarters here, and they were very strict and very evil toward things that weren't toward their policies.

So Roberta Flack left this area and went to New York and became a recording artist star.

And we've asked her to come back numerous times, but because of the climate that she grew up in, she doesn't want to come back.

>> And then there's James Parks, a former slave who dug the first graves at Arlington National Cemetery and is the only person born on Arlington's plantation to be buried at Arlington National with full military honors.

It is in Arlington where African American men, women and children went to school together, worked together, worshiped together, mourned together.

In Arlington, from the enslaved to the free, from the poor off to the better off, from Freedmen's Village to Green Valley, African Americans strive to make a way, inspiring generations to come with a sense of hope and determination and a vision that the best days just over the horizon were yet to come.

>> When I came to work here at Star Barbershop in 1965, uh, Mr. Chinn, who owned Chinn Funeral Home at the time, was one of our frequent customers, but Mr. Chinn's funeral home had been a household name in our family for a number of years.

There's been a Chinn's Funeral Home ever since I can remember being a young boy.

>> Mr. Chinn was a resident of North Arlington, but prior to Mr. Chinn establishing this residence, we would have to go to D.C. for our, uh, burial services.

>> I can remember my grandfather, who passed in the '50s.

The first time, I think, I recall the funeral and Mr. Chinn, Um, I was younger than 10.

And all I know was, is that he was a man of honor, a man of respect, a man who respected my grandmother, my mom and their siblings, and he talked to them to make sure they understood what that -- Not so much what the business was like, but how he operated the business.

>> When anybody passed away in my family or on a hill or whatever, it was Mr. Chinn who was in Chinn Funeral Home.

I would see that hearse driving up there with his little sign on it and says, "Chinn."

And, um, and he -- Everybody knew Mr. Chinn, so he would come in and, um, take care of all that needed to be taken care of.

But even as a kid, um, he was -- He was the one who buried everybody.

And if anybody got sick -- Or I can remember, even my grandparents, my grandfather and everything, when it was his last days, they were -- My aunts and all would say, "Anybody call Chinn's?"

And, you know.

So, um...

But Mr. Chinn, I remember him as a kind of a nice-looking, kind of tall -- well, for me as a kid -- good-looking undertaker.

[ Laughing ] >> Mr. Chinn was kind of like a neighborhood go-to.

Uh, he had answers for everybody, and -- and he kind of helped everybody as far as, uh, being a mortician.

And a lot of people were scared of morticians, but he was kind of like the neighborhood guy that, uh, go-to and all.

When Mr. Chinn was working and everything, uh, he was telling us in the barbershop, he says, "You know, I got a young man coming, uh, that's going to come to work for me."

Said, "Seemed like a real nice young man, but I just wait and see and all that."

So, um, I says, "Okay," you know.

So one day, you know, this tall, dapper-looking young man came over and I was looking out the window.

I said, "That must be the new guy and all."

This guy came in with his kind of new techniques and flamboyance and all, and it just...grew.

He was also a neighborhood man, too.

He lived here in the neighborhood, and he knew all the people, the families.

He knew all the older people, their kids, grandkids.

And I think we got around to great, great grandkids.

Like anything else, when you get new people come in, you bring in new and brighter ideas, but they're the same ideas.

But he had a way to make them glow and -- and bloom a little better.

And that's what his uncle did.

And then when his dad came in there and all, then by then, uh, it was like a flower that come from one stem but bloomed out two flowers.

And so his dad...and brothers -- One time I didn't think they'd know them because they get to arguing and everything and I'd be looking like, "Oh, boy, y'all better stop that stuff."

But they were close as beeswax.

>> My uncle worked here for Mr. Chinn, and he was kind of groomed to take over the business.

He ended up taking it over in '69, and then that's when he reached out to my dad and asked him to join him, to come help him.

Whenever one needed something, the other would drop everything to make sure that, you know, that they succeeded at whatever it was they were trying.

So my dad came in 1970 and I think he finished mortuary school in '72.

I was born in '76.

♪♪ ♪♪ My introduction to the family business is something I don't really remember.

I've been here all my life.

Um, it's been just a part of my life -- the funeral home.

My grandmother babysat me -- me and my cousins and sister upstairs, um, you know, after school.

And -- And slowly but surely, I just kind of -- I guess being here whenever my dad or my uncle needed something done that we could do, they would call us down, and we'd have to do it.

Um, if I got in trouble at school and...

Which happened.

[ Laughs ] Um, I'd have to be here and I'd be put to work.

>> Over the years, Chinn-Baker has long been recognized for their service to the community, as well as their unbelievable talents to their craft.

>> The quality of their work was -- was excellent, the quality of their work and the service, and that they were always service, more emphasis on service and satisfying their constituency than they were on...profits and things.

>> I hear a lot about them because of the type of men my father and uncle were.

Um, they were twins.

They weren't identical, but they were twins, so it's crazy.

They were equally the very same person and complete opposite people at the same time.

You never really understood how that worked, but, um... And they would have their own language, we would say.

Like, they'd be sitting -- We'd be sitting in a room full of full of people and they'd be talking.

No one else in the room would know what the heck they were talking about.

But they understood each other.

They were very close.

They never, almost never, always agreed.

But they were extremely close.

Um, people would say, you know, "Your dad was the wild one.

Your uncle was the quiet one."

Um, but as people, where they were the same is, just like I said, caring about people, and they both went to the ends of the earth to make sure that people were taken care of.

>> When my mom died and my mom was my pastor, and, um, she was very close to the Baker boys -- I call them Baker boys -- very close to the Baker boys, and they did a lot of funerals all across, not just in our family, but around the community.

And when my mom died, um, Robert came.

And he -- We were sitting at the dining room table and he was filling out the necessary paperwork because, you know, "chain of custody," you know, filling out the necessary paperwork.

And he said, um, "Kitty, I know I have to go down the hall to get your mama, but I can't do that right now."

And my brain is going, "Well, what did I forget?

You know, what -- what information do I need to provide him?"

And he looked at me, and I saw the tearing in his eyes because he was like a son to my mom.

And he said, "I've got to get myself together before I go down the hall to get your mama."

"You want some coffee?"

[ Laughing ] You know?

We always going to try to feed you or give you something to drink, right?

I said, "Robert, you take all the time you need.

She has passed on.

She knew you would be here to do it.

She's okay with it.

I'm okay with it.

You move her when you're ready."

And I don't remember how much longer we sat there at my mama's dining room table and kind of talked through that.

But again, there was a peace around that.

There was a trust around that.

>> There was a trust there because there was a relationship before anything happened.

And, um, I can remember back in those days, they always say, "You know what?

So-and-so look good in there, didn't they?

They look good."

And that was a big thing.

So, yes.

And, um, they put them away nice, didn't they?

>> Yes, they did.

>> They put them...

So, um, but the fact that they -- At such a tough time, it didn't feel cold and, like, just a funeral director was coming in.

No, it was like somebody you -- you knew and part of your family, um, came in, and they just really understood what -- what, um, how to deal with you.

And they made it personal.

>> Yeah.

>> Baker brothers were quite unique brothers.

They, uh... One with more reserved than the other.

One was more happy-go-lucky than the other.

Both had both business heads on them, but both played different roles within the funeral home.

But Mr. Baker, Robert, handled the business part where Rupert was more the embalmer.

And what an embalmer.

People still talk of his work.

There were stories that he was the type of embalmer, that sometimes he spent here all night because the person -- He could not get the person to his satisfaction.

They were the kind who got to know the people in real life so that on the day of demise, they could bring out the best in their appearance and, uh, console the family.

But when you look at the body and it looks really presentable, and Rupert was -- Rupert, Shawn's father, was an expert in embalming.

In fact, they took on some of the more critical and crucial things.

And he would work at it.

He would work at it until it was presentable in his eyesight.

>> He was here every waking moment.

So if we wanted to spend time with him, it had to be here.

Um, and just kind of hanging out with him, watching him and his friends interact.

And, um, this was kind of a hangout, so to speak.

Because, believe it or not, it sounds crazy, but, um, yeah, I think that would be my fondest memory is just looking back, having the time with my dad here, some of the tasks that, you know, I had to do, um, we have to wash cars or help move people around or help my dad in the morgue, um, you know, prepare, you know, people, the loved ones, um, you name it.

If we were able and, you know, old enough, we had to do it.

Whether it's, you know, in the community, whether it's in the business, whether, you know, where, you know, wherever they were, um, they were both dynamic people.

They weren't perfect.

But, uh, sometimes I'm amazed at the stories I hear people tell me about things they did or things they said.

>> Robert was the serious, very, um, you know, business-like.

And Rupert was the cool one.

My aunts used to talk about him all the time because I could hear him saying, "Baby," you know?

Not Robert, he would be very, um, professional and that.

But -- But Rupert Baker was more of the -- He was -- He was like the cool guy.

The cool guy.

>> When I lost my husband, Rupert, he was the one that was managing it for my husband.

And he knew I needed to be lifted.

I needed to have some levity.

And I showed him the ties.

I showed him the suits.

I showed him the shirts.

I said, "You decide what to put on him.

I-I can't decide that.

But I know any of this he would be satisfied with."

When Rupert came back to the house, he said, "Uh, baby."

>> That's right.

>> "You know what?

I shaved his mustache off."

And I went, "What?!

What?!"

>> [ Laughing ] >> I should have known he was messing with me.

I started crying.

I said, "He's never shaved that mustache.

Won't anybody know him when they look in that ca--" You know, I kind of went off the roof, and he just sat there and he kind of looked at me and he said, "Did I get you?"

And now I'm ready to fight, right?

But that's the kind of humor, the kind of understanding about emotions and people and how he's got to be the puppet master, right, to make sure that everything comes together.

>> Both were very pillars, you can say, pillars of the community.

They participated or financed or did whatever, um... ...the community needed.

In fact, they used to confide in me a lot.

And one day, Robert said, "You know, people think we make a whole lot of money, but most of the money we make is up in Pleasant Valley," in the ground from people they have put away.

And, you know, they would make sure that people are put in.

Now -- Now, you know, during that time, it was kind of like a 3-day turnaround.

And they would go ahead and prepare the body and do all of that with the hopes that the insurance would come later on.

Sometimes it materialized, sometimes it didn't.

But they kept the same spirit all the way through, that, um, they were here for the community.

>> I never heard my father or uncle discuss getting rich.

Like, this was never a means to getting rich.

It was always about serving the people, always about the community, always about the families.

That -- That was their focus and their drive.

Um, but with that said, you know, we do have to keep the doors open.

So finding that balance is a challenge at times.

>> Chinn-Baker met the needs not only of its beloved Arlington families, but they were also responsible for the homegoing services of some rather notable Virginia figures.

>> In Green Valley, we have the mayor, unofficial mayor for the black community named John Robinson.

John Robinson was someone who put out a newspaper that was strictly for the blacks to tell them the black news and things of that sort, because we weren't getting the news.

We were only hearing what the television told us.

And that wasn't always correct for ours -- for us.

John Robinson helped all kinds of people.

He had, uh, soup kitchens.

He had clothes that he gave for kids.

And he did drives for kids going back to school to get school supplies and things of that sort.

So he was very well known and popular to everybody.

He went around and made sure everybody voted.

He got them rides to go vote, things like that.

So he was very necessary.

Also, we have Doc Muse, who owned a pharmacy in Green Valley, and he was very necessary as well because blacks didn't want -- didn't trust what they were getting from the white stores.

You know, what they were giving them.

They didn't really feel confident that they were getting what they were supposed to be getting, so Doc Muse was a black pharmacist.

So they trusted him and everything that they got from him.

And he was also nice enough to let people get their stuff on layaway and things like that if they couldn't afford it.

>> And finally, Irene Flack, a prominent community member, serving as the longtime chief baker at Wakefield High School and organist at Lomax A.M.E. Zion, and mother of Grammy Award- winning songstress Roberta Flack.

Making the decision to work in the family business, especially when it's a funeral home, may not be a decision that one makes at all.

One might say, in fact, it's a calling.

>> I had no intention of working in the funeral business.

I actually wanted to be an attorney.

Um, but the way life worked out, and, you know, I ended up here, it kind of came to a point where I was like, "Why -- Why not?

Why not be, you know?

You have a business that's been established by your family and more than that, um, they established a community here.

So why not be a part of that?"

Um... You know, I was... working as a government contractor, going to school.

Um, and I found out I was going to have my first child, and my dad kind of pulled me aside and said, "You know, this is, you know, our business.

Um, it's steady.

It's, you know, you can feed your family.

Why not?"

So I end up going to mortuary school.

Um, and even then, I didn't -- I wasn't here full time.

I didn't plan on being here full time.

It was...

I was kind of like in the back of the house is what we called it.

I never really wanted to be...

I'm not really a public speaker or a public person.

Um, so I would help him, you know, and, you know, prepare people and, you know, start to love, you know, that portion of it.

Um, bringing people back to where they were before they got sick or injured or whatever happened for their families.

♪♪ One of the things that kind of made me want to actually do this business, a woman passed away and my dad says, "Come on, ride with me.

We have to go see a family," which means we have to go sit down and talk about funeral arrangements and that kind of thing.

And we walk in the house and everyone, every single person in the house is crying, like, it's tears.

It's just the sadness is in the air.

It's thick and within 30 seconds, we walk in and the entire room is dying laughing at something my dad said, and in my mind I'm like, "Man, that's a talent that I need to -- I haven't mastered it, but that's a talent that I need to try to learn is people and how to turn things around."

I mean, he would say a couple of things, and just like that, everybody's laughing and joking and talking and, you know, that kind of thing.

Putting people at ease and giving people that comfort, even at the worst times of their lives.

>> Shawn Baker is keeping so many traditions of his uncle and father alive, and that includes keeping the business in the family.

>> Um, here -- So I have my cousin-sister.

[ Chuckles ] We were... We're actually cousins, but we were raised as siblings.

Cha'Vonne.

Um, and then also Aaliyah Baker.

And then, you know, we have extended family, my God sister.

And you know, we have, you know, a couple other staff members.

>> Funeral staff are often seen as devoid of emotion.

One might even say stoic.

As one could imagine, seeing the pain, the tears, hearing the moans of the grieving isn't for the faint of heart.

>> Um, the number-one trait that's necessary to be in this business is an empathetic heart.

Being able to have empathy for people, putting yourself in their position at all times.

You know, it's hard when you have a lot of things or a lot of people to take care of, but the ability to say, "What if this was my mother?

How would I want this taken care of?"

Or "If this was my dad, what would I want, you know, for the service or to be said?"

That one and then, uh, being able to talk to people in a professional yet calm and familiar manner in order to take care of the business.

But at the same time, you know, respect or have an understanding of where they're at that moment.

Um, and it's difficult at times.

But, um, you know, personality wise, empathy is probably the number-one trait.

>> And in that time of need, there's no greater trait required.

>> Okay.

Now we're just leaving a church service for Mr. Michael Johnson at Macedonia Baptist Church, and we're headed to Pleasant Valley Cemetery in Annandale.

Okay.

Mr. Johnson was a young man of 45 years of age.

Unfortunately had to die of cancer.

Uh, well known in the neighborhood, right here in Green Valley all his life.

Um, everybody knew him.

Well-liked man.

Worked all the time.

Had a very big smile.

Very likable.

And member of the church for many, many years.

Um, the family is taking it pretty hard.

But they've been members of the church and have a strong faith in the Lord.

So everything is working out pretty good.

And we're here to stand by the family and help them in need and time of need and everybody else, so they can always call on us if they ever need anything.

Um... it's always a sad time when you lose a loved one and whatever, but, you know, God don't make any mistakes.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> I'm sure Mr. Chinn, back in those days, played the same roles the Bakers played later on of, uh, consoling the families and making sure their loved ones were put away properly, even though their loved ones were sometimes not in a financial position.

>> Death is a very real and normal occurrence in life, yet mostly no one wants to have the very important and necessary conversations.

>> It's the last thing anyone wants to think about.

So what you don't think about, you don't prepare for, um, and trying to normalize the idea that just like everything else in life, this is something that should be planned ahead of time and taken care of.

A lot of -- Especially younger people, it's the furthest thing from their mind where they don't realize if they take care of it now, it's going to be less expensive because, you know, prices change.

It's going to be less burden on your family when you do pass, because it's one less thing they have to worry about.

Um, I tell people it's like trying to plan a wedding in a week, and the stress of that alone is enough to, you know, to -- to burden people, much less doing that when you've just lost your mother or father or loved one, um, and trying to grieve and go through that process.

So, you know, I try to talk to people, you know, hold seminars or that thing to get people to purchase insurance, even if you don't plan down to every detail, at least plan for the financial portion of it.

Um, and, yeah, that's -- We actually have a foundation that I just started, um, that helps people not only plan, but, um, you know, pay for services when they can't.

Um, it's a nonprofit, and we named it after my grandmother because she was always about that, like, helping people.

And so, um, those are just, you know, a couple ways that we try to normalize the idea that you're going to die.

I mean, everybody knows it.

So it's not something I should have to normalize, but it's inevitable.

But it's something that people don't want to think about.

Um, I know with my own, you know, mother, she -- she talks about her services and where she wants to be buried.

And my initial reaction is, "I don't want to talk about that.

I don't want to..." And I'm in the business, like I understand.

And then the, you know, the rational side of me is like, "Well, no.

This will, number one, give her peace of mind, because she'll know it's taken care of and won't burden us, and it'll give us peace of mind, you know, at the time that, you know, it happens."

>> When my husband died in 2003 and I had to go get his funeral plot squared away, I knew where I wanted to do it.

And the first question I asked was, "Do you have two plots side by side?

Because I'm not here forever either."

And so when I bought his plot, I bought my plot.

Prepared.

>> So I have a will now.

And I have been preaching to my brothers, my sisters, cousins -- "A will.

You got to have it."

Because I used to say, "I don't need a will because I don't really have nothing."

And then when I finally went and had a will done, I realized I have a home.

You know?

I have, um, you know, retirement, a 401-- And I was like, "Ooh, I..." I never felt like I was, you know, I had anything to have to worry about.

And I have spent the last few years getting everything in order and writing it down because, um, unfortunately, has seen what it's like with other family members when you don't have it and begin to argue over property, over, you know, a little bit of money that's in the bank and making those preparations.

And I find as black people, we are always talking about, we don't -- I don't have nothing.

I'm poor.

Yes, you do.

Even if you're renting, even if you got a car, you have something.

You got a bank account that you put your, you know, paycheck in every -- You don't want your kids fighting over that.

You just -- And get some insurance.

>> As expected or unexpected as the death of a loved one can be, that's unfortunately often the first introduction many have to the education of the process of having your loved one laid to rest.

It is an emotional time, and often the most unlikeliest of times, to truly understand everything that needs to take place.

>> We get a call, you know, whenever that might be, and then we go out and we meet with the family.

And if the person is at the home or at the hospital or what have you, we, you know, pick them up and transport them back to the funeral home, at which time they're, you know, prepared, which includes embalming and, you know, washing and getting them cleaned up.

Um, and then again, we meet with the family.

We, you know, establish a date, time for services.

Let them know what they'll need.

Um, collecting the information, demographic information we may need.

Um, and at that point, we, you know, speak to the church, coordinate with the cemeteries, um, to try to, you know, get everybody on, you know, a day that, you know, they're available.

And, um, yeah, I mean, that's the gist of the beginning of the service.

Um, and then it's -- From that point, it's a plethora of phone calls and interactions just to make sure everything is just right.

>> Mr. Chinn, like the Baker boys, they established good working relationships with all of the churches in our communities and all of the pastors.

Everybody had them on speed dial.

Did we have speed dial back in the day?

But anyway, you had the phone number.

Okay.

And you could call them.

Alright?

And the different ministers and pastors and lay leaders all established good working relationships with them, because you wanted to make sure that those things that would be carried out in your church were just fine.

I can remember coordination.

Key on coordination.

You've got the body, it's got to be delivered.

The flowers, they've got to be ordered, they've got to be delivered.

Just the minutia around those kinds of things.

They got it done.

They just made it happen.

>> A couple of days before the service is when we, you know, we dress casket, um, and prepare them for public viewing, um, which can include hair, makeup.

You know, I'm a jack of all trades, master of none.

You know, I have people to help me.

But, you know, if something needs to be done and I can't find someone, it falls on me.

So, um... And then the day before the service, we have the family come in and do what we call a preliminary viewing.

And that's just time for them to spend time with their loved one without the general public around.

They take as much time as they need.

Some people come in, look and leave.

Some people want to stay and -- and, you know, don't want to leave, but whatever makes them comfortable, gives them any sort of peace, we try to accommodate.

And then there's the funeral service and then -- then the cemetery.

>> I belong to the Macedonia Baptist Church that's up the street.

And our church opened its doors and were more or less used as, uh, for their public funerals and things that were larger than their facility could hold.

So they had a wonderful relationship with all of the churches in this area.

There our four in Green Valley itself.

And, uh, there were four major churches.

We had Lomax A.M.E. Zion Church that's next door, Macedonia Baptist Church, Mount Zion Baptist Church, and Our Lady, Queen of Peace Catholic Church.

And the Baker brothers probably buried most of the people, not only in this community.

There was another on the north side.

There was another, uh, community called Hall's Hill, or now Highview Park.

They had a Methodist church and a Baptist church.

The Bakers probably did 90% of their funerals.

And on the east side, we have Saint John and Mount Olive and the same thing.

So wonderful relationship with the churches.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> The idea of families having to come up with thousands of dollars, um, sometimes, you know, out of a clear blue sky is a challenge.

Um, and having to deal with their day-to-day responsibilities financially and, you know, to eat and clothe and take care of the family and that kind of thing.

And then not only are you faced with losing a loved one, you're faced with having to come up with the money to pay for it.

It's something we try to keep in mind.

At the end of the day, we are a business.

But it's not nearly the focus of our business.

It is -- You know, we try to help everyone no matter what, have a decent and respectful, um, service, regardless of their financial means.

Um, I don't really like crowdfunding, um, such as, you know, like GoFundMe.

You know, I tell people GoFundMe is not insurance.

So, you know, if you can any way afford an insurance policy, please do it.

And a lot of people don't realize that insurance policy can be $50 a month or, you know, depending on how much you purchase and just do that to take care of, you know, the unforeseen, so to speak.

Um, and then, like I said, we try to help people and work with them wherever they are financially.

Um, it may not be an elaborate service.

It may not be top-of-the-line everything, but everything is dignified and respectful and everyone is the same regardless if you spend $2 or $2,000, $200,000.

It's, um...That is the challenge, though, because we have expenses.

Um, we have a lot of overhead.

Um, there are a lot of regulations.

There are a lot of things that we need to take care of and all of that costs.

So it's trying to find a balance between, um, serving people, which is our main goal.

>> And that main goal is providing a dignified celebration of life for your loved one.

And that service has an option that has gained traction over the years -- cremation.

And, yes, your loved ones' remains can be transported as if they were in a traditional casket ceremony.

>> There's definitely been an increase in cremation, um, within the past, I'd say 10 years, and it's steadily increasing.

Um, there are a lot of factors that contribute to that.

One is the stigma.

Um, you know, 10 years ago or beyond, it was, you know, if you're cremated, it means you either didn't have much family, didn't have much money, or weren't religious.

Um, whereas now it's more financial.

Um, I've probably noticed maybe a 35 to 40% increase.

Um, and another factor that contributes to that is we're trying to change the way people view it rather than, you know, like in my dad's time, if someone was cremated, it was typically meant they were picked up, cremated, and that was it, maybe a memorial service.

Whereas now we try to get people to think of it more as just, um, you know, what happens after the service or form a disposition to put it more technically.

Instead of going to the cemetery after the funeral, you're cremated.

It's not a -- You know, there's no -- We try to take the stigma away from it.

Um, another factor is the cost of real estate.

People don't realize that gravesites are real estate.

So as the price of real estate increases, the price of being buried increases as well.

So, you know, it's much more economical to be cremated than, you know, to purchase a plot of land for burial.

>> While so much of the operating of the business has remained the same, times they are changing and so must the business.

>> We try to keep things as much like they did it as possible, because what they did worked and what they did is what people, you know, come to depend on.

So, you know, that's -- But so many times have changed.

I think the biggest change is live streaming.

Um, once COVID came and we weren't able to have many in-person funerals, um, we started live-streaming services, and before that, it was probably 10% of the time.

I mean, I didn't even have the equipment.

I had to go purchase it and set up a service.

And now after COVID, it's expected.

It's like common nature.

It's like having a casket at the service.

It's just part of it.

Um, other changes, obviously, are technology.

Um, here we try to -- Each person has their own web page.

So, you know, the Internet is a pivotal part.

Um, I can remember my dad, like, typing death certificates.

Um, and he was no typist, so it would take a couple of hours for him to...

Whereas now I just kind of fill it all in online and everything is, you know, done that way.

>> And then we have a soldier.

The American flag always goes on that side, because when you lay a soldier in it, always go to his left shoulder.

And so when we have just a regular funeral, we just go... And that's it.

And that's how you get... [Indistinct] And this one always go on that side when you have a military person there.

>> The funeral business is just that -- a business.

It is not often viewed that way.

Perhaps more as just a necessary service, but not one that operates on money.

And just like a business, there are seasons of influx and seasons of lull.

>> Believe it or not, it's a cyclical business or seasonal business.

There are times of the year where, you know, we -- we have an onslaught, and then there are times where it's a little slower.

Um, I notice around holidays, Thanksgiving is usually our busiest, busiest time of year.

Um, for whatever reason, I'm not sure, but, um, and when the weather changes, it's strange.

Like, in the next couple of weeks when we go from cold -- I mean, go from warm to cold, we'll notice an uptick in business.

>> And as the seasons change and bring anew, so will the season of change for Chinn-Baker.

>> I'd love to expand, you know.

This building is dear to us, but it's, you know, not necessarily, you know, adequate in all ways.

So we're looking to expand to another part of the metropolitan area.

Um, and like I said, just keeping the values and traditions going while expanding the business and making -- And being able to serve more people.

>> You're vulnerable when your loved one die anyway, you know, and these guys come in and they -- His dad and uncle, they just had a gift of how Chinns, Bakers should work.

And he's their kid.

And like I say, with me being with his dad and uncle so long and they're gone, it is my ultimate goal and my duty that I've got to look out for him, because they probably call me to complain about it some, but it's like a son that we got to keep him going.

And if there's any way to carry him to the top, I put him on my shoulder and walk him up myself.

You know?

>> Shawn has done an excellent job.

Shawn -- Shawn has a... is a true Baker.

He has the same spirit that his uncle and his father had, that they are here to service the community.

And in that thing is the most important in that kind of business.

Have empathy and love for people, that you know how to deal with people, especially in their time, their downtime, or their time of need.

And I think Shawn is really carrying on...

He's always serious-minded and more like his uncle.

[ Chuckling ] But I think he's doing a wonderful job.

>> I think the legacy, when it's all said and done, will be that one of service.

Um, people will remember us being there for them at the worst point in their life, the worst day of their life, and helping them through that.

Um, and that's been our -- our -- what the business was, you know, the foundation, I should say, of the business.

And, you know, hopefully that's what people remember.

And when, you know, 50 years from now, if we're not here and people think of it, they'll say, "Well, you know, they -- they helped us.

They were there for us."

>> In legacy?

Well, he's like his -- his father and his uncle.

It'll be that he's serving the community and serving the community with -- The community is much bigger and broader and different and diverse, um, with the same dignity, integrity, professionalism, giving them the best service that they know how to give in the times of -- That's the legacy.

That's what his -- his aunts, his father, uncle, Mr. Chinn, that's -- that's what you carry on.

>> But to step into that situation of loss as a family member.

>> Member.

Yeah.

>> Understanding, respectful, supportive and caring.

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