Mississippi funeral director follows calling to service

Special to The Canton News 

Growing up in Canton, Dexter L. Ritter planned to become an architect. In his junior year of high school, he felt called to become a licensed funeral director and mortician instead.

A guidance counselor told him he would never enter the field, noting his family worked in education and did not own a funeral home. Ritter remained committed to his calling.

At the start of his senior year, he began working as a student intern at a local funeral home. After graduating with honors from Canton High School in 1997, he attended East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Mississippi, earning an associate degree in mortuary science in 2000.

During his internship, Ritter passed the National Board Exam on his first attempt and became a licensed funeral director and mortician in 2002. He then moved to Memphis, where he worked at M.J. Edwards Funeral Home, gaining experience in funeral service, embalming and restorative art.

He later returned to Mississippi to work as a pathology assistant at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. During that time, he also worked at Jackson Memorial Funeral Service and provided trade embalming for funeral homes across the state.

Ritter continued his education, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belhaven University. In 2017, he became a Certified Funeral Service Practitioner through the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice.

Since 2012, he has worked at Collins Funeral Home in Jackson and continues to provide trade embalming services for multiple funeral homes across Mississippi. In 2025, he was inducted into Epsilon Nu Delta, a mortuary fraternity for professional embalmers affiliated with the National Funeral Directors and Morticians Association, of which he is also a member.

In his spare time, Ritter enjoys fishing, chess, golf, working out, reading, traveling and trying new restaurants. He is a member of Word of Life Church in Ridgeland and has served on several professional and civic boards. He said he hopes his service reflects God’s excellence.