Aces of Trades: Tyler Jamison's two careers are centered on helping others

COSHOCTON – He helps people in two not so ordinary ways.

“I grew up helping my grandfather Lester Stewart,” recalled Tyler Jamison. “He owned Forest Hill Lake and Campground and started Forest Hill Septic Service in 1980. I spent almost every weekend of my childhood summers picking up trash and cleaning outhouses from 12 to 18 years of age at the campground. When Grandpa needed a hand on the septic truck I went along. The septic business was always something that was there for me to do, so I guess I just never thought about it at a young age.”

Today, Jamison owns and operates Forest Hill Septic LLC.

“Grandpa needed something to supplement his income and time in the camping off season,” he said.

“I enjoy going to work every day and meeting new people all over our county,” he added.

Jamison, 36, grew up in Coshocton, graduated from Coshocton High School, Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus, then the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science.

“After graduating high school,” he said, “my mother, who was the city health registrar who filed birth and death records and who worked closely with area funeral homes, suggested that I become a funeral director. Like any 18 year old, my response was ‘Are you crazy?’ It took her a couple weeks to finally convince me to go down to Given-Dawson and shadow for a day. My plan was to go and tell her I didn’t like it so she would leave me alone about it.

“But after going down and seeing for myself the everyday job of a funeral director,” he added, “it really shocked me to see it’s not the dark depressing job Hollywood has portrayed. I then started to work at Given-Dawson through college and then returned to do my state apprenticeship in 2010. I became an Ohio licensed funeral director and embalmer in 2011 and continued to work for Given-Dawson until 2014. In 2014 I was offered a job with Snyder Funeral Homes and moved to Delaware, Ohio. In 2016 my grandmother floated the idea of returning home to help my grandpa with the septic business. I was a bit home sick, so I took her up on the offer.

“Shortly after moving back to Coshocton in 2016,” he continued, “Tom Addy from Addy Funeral Home in Newcomerstown reached out to me to see if I would be interested in helping him at the funeral home, primarily in the embalming room. It was a perfect opportunity to be able to utilize my education and licenses but not have to devote my time to the daily grind of a funeral director.”

Jamison is known as a trade embalmer in the funeral industry.

“I currently embalm, dress and cosmetize at Addy Funeral Home,” he said. “I also at times help at the Miller Funeral Home in Coshocton. I’m able to run my septic business Monday-Friday 9 to 5, then go into the funeral home in the evenings or late at night after the family goes to bed.”

Jessie Addy is the owner of Addy Funeral Home in Newcomerstown.

“Tyler has been such a valuable part of our funeral home for the better part of a decade,” assessed Addy. “He started out helping occasionally when we needed it and has now become our main embalmer. He’s always willing to come in at all hours of the day, depending on what we have going on. We’ve always been able to rely on him, even in his busiest seasons. Being a small, family-run business, it’s incredibly invaluable to have someone like Tyler on board.”

“I often joke,” Jamison responded, “I have the two dirtiest jobs in the world that nobody wants, but everyone needs. Customers are always relieved to see the septic pumper when they have sewage backing up into their homes. And in the funeral home, helping families deal with tragedy and to assist them through that difficult time is very rewarding. I feel very fortunate where my life’s path has taken me.”

Forest Hill Septic LLC is located at 614 S 14th St. For more information, log on www.foresthillseptic.com .

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at ctnews@coshoctontribune.com.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Aces of Trades: Tyler Jamison's two careers are centered on helping others