The F factor! How Judy Cole found her calling in the family funeral business

Women bring something special to the table, says Judy Cole who is a director of Canberra’s family-run William Cole Funerals.

Photo: Michelle Kroll.

When Judy Cole’s dad decided to open his own funeral business, she begged him not to do it.

Judy was starting high school when Bill Cole first got a job in a funeral home. “I knew he’d always been interested in it,” she says.

“When he started in the industry, I really had no experience with death – I’d never even been to a funeral.”

From the outset, it was clear Bill had found his calling, and when Judy was in Year 10, he started his own business, William Cole Funerals, with his wife Christine.

“It was certainly very different to what everybody else’s parents at school did,” Judy laughs. “But I was more worried about Dad leaving a secure job and the fear of what would happen if it didn’t work out.”

Fast forward 36 years, and William Cole Funerals has established itself as one of the premier funeral directors in the ACT, earning an esteemed reputation for compassionate, highly personalised service.

But at the beginning of that journey, a teenage Judy had declared she didn’t want anything to do with it.

Instead, at 18, she got a job at a florist before quickly realising it wasn’t the career for her.

“I spoke to Mum and Dad about doing a bit of work with them while I figured out what I wanted to do … 32 years later I’m still here,” she says.

Judy started out helping in the office, mainly in admin.

But while all their clients’ families were lovely, she always felt she was just a bit young and a bit lacking in life experience to be front and centre of their grief.

The turning point came when Judy completed an infection control course – which teaches you how to safely handle human remains and prevent the spread of infectious diseases – and really enjoyed it.

Within months, the 19-year-old enrolled in a Certificate in Mortuary Science and would go on to become the youngest female embalmer in Australia at the time.

The real litmus test came when her dad put her in contact with an embalmer he knew for some practical experience, thinking “this will sort her out”, according to Judy.

“I got there thinking I was just going to watch and the guy said, ‘OK, there’s your protective gear, gloves and gown … you’re going to help me,'” she says. “From that moment I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

Judy knew instinctively that working in this space was “something pretty special” – a vital behind-the-scenes connection to her father’s work arranging funerals out front.

“I felt I didn’t have the emotional maturity at 18 to sit with a family during their heavy loss but I could make a difference to helping prepare a loved one to look at peace,” she says. “It’s like I didn’t know what to say, but I knew what I could do!”

And she has been doing it ever since. Today, it’s a multigenerational effort with Judy’s husband Naithan, as operations manager, and their middle child, Ella, 25, applying her background in hospitality and business management to now run the company’s HR.

Such is the level of Judy’s commitment to the industry she once shied away from, she was recently appointed senior vice-president of the ACT and NSW division of Funerals Australia, the peak industry body for professional and ethical funeral directors nationwide.

Formed in 1935 and formerly known as the Australian Funeral Directors Association (AFDA), the organisation promotes strict professional, ethical, and operational standards. According to Judy, this leadership is crucial in a sector that remains largely unregulated.

Judy, now 50, says she had never considered a role on the council her father has served on for 28 years, but a fellow funeral director in Sydney encouraged her to accept a nomination.

“Historically this is a very male-dominated industry and the tradition was for funeral directors to be men,” she says. “They are looking for fresh ideas and input from women as the industry has and continues to change. It’s an honour to be appointed to this position.”

And when you think about it, it’s only natural that more women should be part of a profession that is known for its care and compassion for people in dark times, according to Judy.

“I’m not saying there are not amazing men in the industry but women are nurturers, we have the ability to multitask … and I think we are also more easily able to give those hugs to families when they need it,” she says.

“Women are strong both emotionally and physically – and we bring something special to the table.”

One of Judy’s biggest challenges is that the very nature of the industry brings a unique emotional hurdle: you cannot fix grief.

“As a mum and a woman, I want to fix things if there is a problem – I want to make it better,” she says.

“Working in this space, I can’t fix everything, but I can walk alongside someone and help them in a way that very few people get the honour of doing.”

For more information visit William Cole Funerals.

This article, written by Jodie O’Sullivan, was featured on Region Canberra on the 2nd of October 2026. You can see the original article HERE

Photography by Michelle Kroll