By Llewellyn St. Aubyn Adrian Peter
NASHVILLE, TN — George Baker, Jr. is a native Nashvillian who is presently pursuing his dream or, as he states emphatically, it is his calling. George Baker Jr. is the new Managing Partner at Highland Hills Funeral Home and Crematory, located at 2422 Brick Church Pike.
“George” or “Baker” as he is affectionately known by many has been very impactful in our lives in this city who have experienced death. Death and dying are not a topic of conversation on the tongues of many daily, but it is a part of the human experience. George has been responsible for providing professional services for over thirty years to people who have lost a loved one.
As an adolescent, George was intrigued by the area of mortuary science. Many people may find the love of this subject matter rather morbid and peculiar, but death is undoubtedly imminent. At that appointed time, we need empathetic, comforting, and professional people in their practices to help us navigate through this experience at a time that is unseemly turbulent physically and mentally. George possesses all those character traits and more.
To set a navigational course for success to be adroit in his skillsets, George enrolled in Columbia State Community College and John A. Gupton College, where he received Associate Degrees in Business and Funeral Service. Upon graduation, he immediately immersed himself in the world as a funeral worker. He furthered his studies by attaining licensure in Embalming and Funeral Directing from the State of Tennessee.
His moral compass enabled him to exhibit a superlative and robust work ethic to understand and demonstrate the highest caliber of skillsets to propel him in a frontal mode to make his ascent in this industry. The funeral business can be very competitive with people who can be petulant and petty. Despite the exhibition of those behaviors by some, George continued to preserve by adapting and learning to master the art in all the funeral industry facets. As he continued to walk in faith and perform good works, he began to morph into an individual that found his calling and finally accepted it and it was not fortuitous.
Because of this change of mindset, George became a servant leader in this industry with authentic leadership skills that made him lead from his moral compass; and he is very self-aware. He uses balanced processing of information to make decisions and has become emotionally transparent. Because of this metamorphosis, George started to exude a consummate professional gravitas in the funeral industry. It was not a job anymore, but it became a ministry to serve others in their fortitude at the end of a person’s life.
George further experienced a paradigm shift in his thinking, which enabled him to be devoted, disciplined, and dedicated to the people he serves in his gift and calling at their grief. He believes with his whole heart that everyone that he encounters should be treated fairly with a high level of decency and be a participant of a guaranteed experience.
His high sense of egalitarianism and altruistic qualities makes him stand out from the rest of his counterparts. He bonds with the people he serves, which forms a relational congruency, and because of his sense of je ne sais quoi people remember him for a long time for his professional services, and faithfulness.
Highland Hills Funeral Home is an establishment that is on the cusp of greatness. They exhibit a superlative sense of professionalism, empathy, and a staff that is emotionally transparent in the high quality of services they offer.
Their Managing Partner George Baker, Jr. is one of the best in the funeral industry and the catalyst to propel this establishment to be a model for other funeral homes of this caliber to pattern their business and professional practices after. He is undoubtedly a tour-de-force, and the future is bright for this establishment with George Baker Jr. at the helm.
Llewellyn St. Aubyn Adrian Peter, editor, is currently the Dean of Students for 5th and 6th grade at John Early Museum Magnet Middle School. He is a doctoral student at Trevecca Nazarene University. Lsapmusic65@gmail.com