The undertaker's wife - Dee Oliver

On Dee Branch's first date with Johnnie Oliver, a fourth-generation funeral director, she knew she was in for a unique relationship when he had to leave "for just a minute"-and he came back to the car with a corpse.

Over twenty years later, Dee was still in love with her charming southern gentleman when he passed away suddenly in 2007. Determined to carry on Johnnie's work, Dee earned her mortuary science degree, only to find herself no longer needed in the family business. So Dee crossed the racial divide in the most segregated industry in America and joined the staff of an African-American funeral home as a single white woman.

In The Undertaker's Wife, Oliver draws from her wealth of experience to provide candid and often hysterically funny advice on dying well and surviving the loss of those who have gone before. Her insights on the common ground of grief, survival, and the ever-present faithfulness of God (to all of us, regardless of our race, religious upbringing, or socio-economic background) will help readers prepare for one of life's only certainties-and do it with wisdom, grace, and a healthy dose of joy.

Dee Oliver is the socialite widow of John Oliver, who was a fourth-generation funeral director and the impeccably mannered proprietor of the largest funeral home in southeastern Virginia.
Dee holds a degree in mortuary science and writes about death (and surviving the loss of someone you love) in her blog, Going Out in Style.
She is the mother of three girls, ages 17-21.