Damon de la Cruz, Ph.D.

Damon de la Cruz, PhD, is a licensed embalmer, funeral director, and educator with more than three decades of experience in funeral service. He holds a doctorate in Pathobiology from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology. A mortuary science faculty member at Cypress College, he has served in academic leadership and contributed to curriculum development and accreditation. Damon is the coauthor of Turning Art into Science: Applying Chemistry to Funeral Service and creator of Embalm Calc. An international speaker, he connects scientific principles with embalming techniques, helping funeral professionals strengthen their understanding, improve their skills, and communicate the value of viewing to the families they serve.

MORT 215 C Embalming

This course is designed to include basic orientation, history of embalming to present times, moral and sanitary considerations of embalming, methods of handling human remains, including those of a contagious or infectious nature, demonstration of the various methods of preparation and disinfection treatment of bodies contaminated by radiation. The emphasis is on the development of embalming techniques, exposure to dead human remains having various diseases, treatment of localized areas by supplemental methods of preservation and the application of embalming theories ranging from pre-embalming analysis to funeral home visitation room appearance, in a laboratory environment. Mortuary Science students will become familiar with the nature of chemicals utilized in the mortuary setting, as they develop a qualitative understanding of the chemical aspects of tissue decomposition and preservation. Embalming of protein and the effects relative to the blood, body pigments and tissue staining are a primary emphasis of the course. The laboratory component provides a culmination of theory, practical knowledge and applied skills necessary to enhance the dead human remains through the embalming and restoration process. Field Trips may be required not to exceed $50.

Prerequisite(s): Completion of MORT 201 C and MORT 202 C

Term hours: 54 lecture and 54 laboratory. This is the second in a two-course sequence in Funeral Service Administration, and provides a vocationally oriented survey of funeral service management as it applies to funeral home operations, mortuary management, and financial decision-making, and covers general management technique and theory, and specific guidelines for practitioners operating a funeral service enterprise. It is designed to introduce the mortuary science student to the basic principles of management, merchandising, and effective managerial skills as they apply to the practice of the funeral profession; to the financial aspects of funeral business operation, concepts of financial management and the use of financial information in decision-making relative to cost analysis and control, pricing, inventory and in assessing the firm’s performance; and credit policies and practices. Information presented covers financial statements and their analysis, worksheets, journalizing, receivables, payables, deferrals, and accruals. Inventory costing models, depreciation models, and funeral service payroll accounts are also included. 

Prerequisite(s): Completion of or concurrent enrollment in MORT 214 C and MORT 216 C

Term hours: 63 hours lecture and 81 hours laboratory. This course is designed to include basic orientation, history of embalming to present times, moral and sanitary considerations of embalming, methods of handling human remains, including those of a contagious or infectious nature, demonstration of the various methods of preparation and disinfection treatment of bodies contaminated by radiation. The emphasis is on the development of embalming techniques, exposure to dead human remains having various diseases, treatment of localized areas by supplemental methods of preservation and the application of embalming theories ranging from pre-embalming analysis to funeral home visitation room appearance, in a laboratory environment. Mortuary Science students will become familiar with the nature of chemicals utilized in the mortuary setting, as they develop a qualitative understanding of the chemical aspects of tissue decomposition and preservation. Embalming of protein and the effects relative to the blood, body pigments and tissue staining are a primary emphasis of the course. The laboratory component provides a culmination of theory, practical knowledge and applied skills necessary to enhance the dead human remains through the embalming and restoration process. Field Trips may be required not to exceed $50. 

Prerequisite(s): Completion of or concurrent enrollment in MORT 215 C

Term hours: 36 lecture. This course is designed to familiarize the Mortuary Science student with the nature of chemicals utilized in the mortuary setting, and to provide a qualitative understanding of the chemical aspects of tissue decomposition and preservation. Embalming of protein and the effects relative to the blood, body pigments and tissue staining are a primary emphasis of the course. Field trip may be required not to exceed $50.