City of Charlotte, NC Behind the Crown, 21 Jul 2022

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From YouTube: William 'Bill' Bibby, Sexton | Behind the Crown

Description

Repairing headstones, consoling grieving families and preserving the history of the dead is all in a day’s work of a sexton. In this episode of Behind the Crown, City of Charlotte sexton William ‘Bill’ Bibby shares a glimpse of what it takes to manage cemeteries, and his take on the most important quality he brings to the job. Learn more about City of Charlotte cemeteries at https://cltgov.me/cemeteries.

Behind the Crown highlights the people who keep the City of Charlotte running. If you're interested in starting or extending a career in public service, explore opportunities with the City of Charlotte on our jobs board: https://cltgov.me/careers.

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Bill bibby:. If I meet somebody, I don't know, what I've learned throughout the years,. They asked me what I do for a living.

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there's a little chuckle at first, and then I'll go,. I'm a.

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Grave digger., the stories on the headstones is astronomical.

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There's governors in here. there's mayors in here.

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Randolph scott. he's the first american cowboy on tv. [he] did.

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About 100 movies from 1928 to 1968., like I could do a whole.

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History tour just in this round, first circle, section, a, we'd, be.

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Here for two hours., my name is bill bibby,, and I am the sexton.

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For the city of charlotte cemeteries.

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Protector of a graveyard. [it].

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Came from an old church thing that was brought back., I manage.

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And run about seven cemeteries. and I've been here since 2015.

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You have to learn archaeology., you have to learn plumbing.. You.

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Have to learn buildings., you have to learn roads., there's a.

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Whole list of, and probably 10% of, my job of my job is burying.

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People., it's not that much., but I have to make sure that's the.

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Most important job. gary frink, who's, my mentor still today,. He.

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Came to me,, I was coaching his son in baseball, and he goes,. 'I.

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Need you to come work for me'. and I'm like,? 'what do you do'?.

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'I work in the cemetery',, I was like, 'no'., I said, twice, 'no'..

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Then he said, I'll, take you to lunch. and I wish I'd got into it a lot longer than over 20 years. Ago. yeah.

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Why I was chosen for my mentor, was: I was very empathetic.. I.

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Understood what what other people were going through at that time, so. there's many times, I'm in front of a family for six hours,, and they will not remember my name tomorrow.

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Because they're in such a cloud at that point in time., I help.

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Them through that. and that's the most honorable job that I.

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Can have. the hard part is I'm always happy-go-lucky. in this.

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Job,, you can't always be happy-go-lucky. during covid,. It.

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Was very stressful during that time, because we were doubling.

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The amount of people we were putting in the ground., so we went from roughly 10 to 17 to about 35 a week.. We would have.

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To be this far away from a family with masks, on. and when.

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You're very empathetic,, and I love what I do, it's hard not to.

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Hug., they want to come and hug you and we have to hold back. so.

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As they're grieving,, a hug is always good during grieving time.. We couldn't do that during covid. so,. Those families are.

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Coming back to us now and saying, thanks for all what we did. so,.

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It's a very rewarding job.

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well,, it's pretty much in my, to me,. This is high priority., so.

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I'd rather preserve it now than have more of a problem. Later.

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We have crystal acid, we put on it for stubborn., I'm going to.

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Call this pretty stubborn. and, as the days go on,, maybe this.

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Morning, sun hits it. it'll get shinier every day. brighter and.

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The most rewarding part about this job is a hug. believe it or.

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Not. little old lady is 76 years old and and just wraps her arms.

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Around me and says, 'billy,, you take care of my husband'. and I.

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Say 'I will'. those are the ones that grab my heartstring.