Mortician Shawn Troy stands at the grave of his father, William Penn Troy Sr., at Hillcrest Cemetery outside Mullins, S.C., on Sunday, May 23, 2021. The elder Troy, who developed the cemetery, died of COVID-19 in August 2020, one of many Black funeral directors to succumb to the pandemic. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it,” he said. “But I’ll get through it.”
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Pandemic forcing Black morticians to bury their own in profession
When the last mourners departed and funeral director Shawn Troy was left among the headstones, he wept alone.
