Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Derek Leibensperger with me. Welcome, Derek, to the Get Inspired! Project.
Derek Leibensperger: Thank you very much.
Toni: Derek, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Derek: As you already said, I’m Derek Leibensperger. I’m a third generation funeral director at our funeral home in Hamburg and Leesport, Leibensperger Funeral Homes Incorporated. We’ve been in business since 1935 when my grandfather, Stephen Leibensperger started the business. My father, Domer Leibensperger, took over the business after him, and now currently it’s my sister Donna, my brother-in-law, Todd Kennedy, and myself that are funeral directors.
Also, we have a little bit of a secondary business as well, and that’s Peachtree Cremation Services. There we do pet cremation. We started doing that in 2012. We’re basically trying to build that business.
Outside of work, I’m very involved in the community, different organizations such as Hamburg Rotary, Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce, and I’m also with the Hamburg Jaycees. With the Jaycees, I’m in charge of the King Frost Parade, which is coming up on Halloween, Saturday, October 31st.
Toni: Fantastic. Thank you so much for coming in to join us for the Get Inspired! Project.
Derek: No problem. Thanks for having me.
Toni: Absolutely. Let’s go into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Derek: As I told you before, I didn’t really prepare, so I think inspiration to me means just on a definition level when something means so much to you that it causes you to do something else. If I’m inspired to carry on the tradition of the King Frost Parade, why am I inspired to do that? I’m inspired to do that because somebody else before me cared so much about it to continue doing it. I find personal reasons to do that as well.
I don’t use that term too often, but internally I know the meaning of it. Also, in business, like I already mentioned about the family. I’m inspired to keep the family business going because of the people before me that have worked so hard to build it. I don’t know if I’m really answering the question.
Toni: You absolutely have.
Derek: Inspiration to me means something that has made me do what I’m doing.
Toni: Does it feel like something to you?
Derek: Yes. To me, inspiration is more of a feeling than actually an action.
Toni: Okay.
Derek: Again, that word to me is what makes me do what I do.
Toni: Right. So you are actually moved when you are inspired.
Derek: Right.
Toni: And then you take action upon that?
Derek: Exactly.
Toni: So how do you put that inspired feeling into practice here in Berks County?
Derek: I probably answered that question in my first response maybe, but that inspired feeling causes me to attempt to be the honest business professional that I’m trying to be, because my father had a lot of success treating people right and building his business that way. I put my personal inspiration into practice every day that I go to work and handle a family at the funeral home.
Also, turning it around on the community level, I put my inspiration into practice every time that I go out with the Rotary Club or with the Jaycees and try to tackle a community event and make it successful for the community and also for the organization that is running it.
Toni: Derek, you’re in the business of sadness, but yet creating an experience of peace, correct?
Derek: Right.
Toni: Do you find inspiration in that environment?
Derek: Yes.
Toni: Can you give us an example? I know that I’m coming at this with you cold, but in the midst of that experience you’re creating for family, I would imagine there’s a lot of inspiration that takes place.
Derek: Right.
Toni: Do you have a recent example that you can share?
Derek: As I mentioned, with inspiration being something that causes me to continue to do something else, on a daily basis when I meet with a family who needs assistance, either because the loss has already occurred or is coming in the near future, seeing them needing help or needing assistance for what we’re doing, talking about it at the moment, if I’m able to help them, that inspires me to help them; not just to get the job done and move on, but if we can take it a step further and make it a little more meaningful for them, or if I can go a little bit farther and take care of something that I wouldn’t normally take care of for them, just to make that experience a little easier on them.
Toni: There’s your inspiration in practice as well, because you had stated that you are inspired to take action. You listen and you know that you need to create an experience, and you’re inspired to do so by somebody else’s grief.
Derek: Exactly.
Toni: That’s amazing. Who in Berks County inspires you?
Derek: This might sound like an obvious answer already, but my father is my largest inspiration in my life. My father has been dealing with a type of cancer for five years now.
Toni: I’m sorry.
Derek: He is a very, very strong fighter. The cancer is in his brain. Since the beginning, he has fought through it and succeeded with it, and continues to fight today. Again, at this point in his life (he’s 75 years old) his one wish is that he could work; that he could still be doing what he has done forever. That inspires me to continue to do it for him. He has become such an inspiration to me, because seeing his drive, seeing how strong willed he is and just the want and the care of his life.
My dad’s name is Domer. A lot of people, if you just say Domer, they know exactly who you’re talking about. That word, Domer, to me, means drive, love, and motivation. Like I said, he’s just become such an inspiration to me personally, not even just because he’s my father, but because he’s been my mentor in the business and everything else in life. There’s four of us kids. I’m the youngest in the family, so I didn’t have as much time in the business with him as my sister did, but I’ve learned so much from him because I know how he was and how he liked things done. It causes me to want to do it the way he would want it done.
Toni: I really hope your father gets a chance to listen to this interview. What an amazing testimonial for not only what inspires you, but who. That’s really a wonderful gift that you are sharing with him.
What do you want your legacy to be?
Derek: I want people to one day see that I’m genuine and that I’m not just in business for that dollar amount. The dollar shouldn’t mean anything to anybody. If you want to do something in life, you should do it because you want to do it. A quote from my dad is – and overused by other people other than dad – but he always said he “never worked a day in his life.” That’s because he enjoyed working in the field that we work in so much that he never considered it work. He considered it just life, and that’s just how you do it. Of course there’s times when you feel like, “I’m working today,” but deep down, you never work a day in your life if you enjoy what you’re doing.
Toni: What I love about the last question, “What do you want your legacy to be?” is that a lot of people assume that that legacy is what you’re going to leave behind, but really a lot of people are living their legacy. You’ve given two living legacies in your interview – one for yourself and your business, but also one talking about a living legacy in your father. Thank you so much for a wonderful interview and showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Derek: No problem. Thanks again for having me.
