RACHEL BARKER

CANTON — Rachel I. (Tassey) Barker, a Weirton native and funeral director for Arnold Funeral Homes in Canton, has qualified for the designation of Certified Funeral Service Practitioner from the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice.

Several professions grant special recognition to members upon completion of specified academic and professional programs, and CFSP is the funeral service’s national individual recognition.

This achievement is especially notable because Rachel has voluntarily elected to participate in quality educational and service opportunities that surpass what the funeral service licensing board in Ohio requires.

The Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice, since its 1976 founding, has had as its goals to recognize those practitioners who have voluntarily entered a program of personal and professional growth; to raise and improve the standards of funeral service; and to encourage practitioners to make continuing education a lifelong process in their own self-interest, the interest of the families they serve and the community in which they serve.

To initially receive the award, the practitioner must complete a 180-hour program of continuing education activities and events. In addition, the practitioner is required to accumulate 20 hours per year to recertify. Credits are awarded for work leading to personal or professional growth in four areas: Academic activities, professional activities, career review (for retroactive credit) and community and civic activities.

Rachel is the daughter of Anthony and Theresa Tassey of Weirton. She graduated from Weir High School in 2009 and attended West Virginia University before following her passion for funeral service. She is a graduate of Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science and received her bachelor’s degree in funeral service from Point Park University in 2013. She earned her licenses in 2015 from the Ohio State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers and serves families in Stark County, where she lives with her husband and daughter.