Michelle Sponseller Celebrant | Officiant
Everyone we meet has a story. From their long-standing career to years of volunteer work to being a loving family member, these attributes shape who they are in life and when they have passed on. These stories are what guided Michelle Sponseller to celebrant work, and it is these stories that continue to be her “why” in her new career as a Certified Master Celebrant and Certified Funeral Celebrant.
Michelle spent over twenty years serving Mt. Pleasant while working in local government. When she retired, she went to work at a local funeral home, and this is where her perspective shifted.
“I heard a lot of services that could have been read aloud at any funeral, for any person, with only the name swapped out. Sometimes it was just reading the obituary. Worse [was] when I heard "I didn't know the deceased, but..." I knew families deserved better,” Michelle said.
While local advocacy remains an area she is passionate about, Michelle now gives back to Central Michigan families by curating heartfelt services crafted to the families' wants and needs.
“I kept meeting families who didn't have a church or a pastor who'd known their loved one, families who didn't hold any religious beliefs at all, and families who'd chosen direct cremation and then realized they never gathered to say goodbye. Those gaps pulled me in. I trained to be a funeral celebrant and earned my certification, because families deserve someone who's studied the craft and can deliver a service that's truly personal to the one they've lost.”
With this newfound calling, Michelle wanted to do more, and so she became a celebrant educator. In addition to her work, she also serves as the End-of-Life Instructor at the Celebrant Academy, training the next generations of celebrants to ensure that every individual, couple, and family have the services they deserve.
While her focus is end-of-life work, Michelle also uses her storytelling to ensure that couples receive the best day of their lives as their wedding officiant.
Funerals, memorials, and end-of-life celebrations bring bittersweet moments for us all. These days are often dreaded and avoided, with most families feeling overwhelmed while having to make some of the hardest decisions. If Michelle could offer one piece of advice, she said she wishes that most people would pre-plan their own end-of-life service, in whatever way is most comfortable for them. “It's one of the kindest things you can do for the people you love,” Michelle stated.
“When you've thought through your own goodbye ahead of time, your family isn't left guessing in one of the hardest times of their lives. We can shape the service together now, the stories, the music, the tone, so it's truly yours. You keep a copy to share with whoever will be in charge of the service, and a copy goes to your funeral home, kept on file and ready for whenever the time comes. The practical decisions, things like casket or urn selection and the details the funeral home handles, can be settled in advance too. It lifts an enormous weight off the people left behind, and it means the service is genuinely about the life you lived.”
Click here to learn more about Michelle’s journey or about her celebrant services.