And the West is History: Undertaking school students – ca. 1904

Ray Goodman followed his father into the undertaking profession, as well as the paint, glass and wallpaper business. He worked at both during the early 1900s in Durango. Ray (front row, third from left) is shown here with his Clark’s Cincinnati College of Embalming classmates shortly before returning to Durango in 1904. He bought his father’s funeral parlor in 1912 and served as both deputy coroner and corner until 1921. In 1918, he was urgently called to Silverton during the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic to take over for the local mortician, who was himself gravely ill from the flu. Goodman left the funeral business in 1919 because of the epidemic overwhelming his business, as well as the emotional toll that came from interring so many of his acquaintances. However, he continued successfully in the paint and glass business for many years until his retirement. He died in Durango at age 82 in 1967. – Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org (Catalog Number: 13.01.54 from the La Plata County Historical Society Photo Collections)