PROVO — There's nothing unusual about holding down two jobs. Not many people, though, are snowboard business owners by day and work for a mortuary on the side.
Provoan Brady Fox has the best of both worlds, however opposing they may seem. He is part owner of Revolution Snowboard Manufacturing, located in Orem, near some of the greatest snow on Earth, and he is a licensed mortician.
The dichotomy begs questioning. Fox's father was a mortician, so he was raised in mortuaries. "I'd grown up in the funeral business," Fox said. "Every house I lived in was inside a mortuary." Fox grew up mostly in Heber, helping his father.
In his early 20s, he began working for Earl Miller of the Miller Ski Co. in Orem. There, Fox worked with Miller to develop a releasable snowboard binding.
But in 1996 his father decided to open his own funeral home in Rock Springs, Wyo. It was at the same time Fox was dating his wife-to-be, Deborah.
"When he built the funeral home, I thought I should get a better-paying job," Fox said, "one that would be more substantial because I was getting married."
Fox took the sensible path, earning a mortuary science degree in Littleton, Colo., and settled down with his new wife in Rock Springs to help with his dad's business.
He worked beside his father in Wyoming for seven or eight years, and his father said he considers public relations his son's biggest strength.
"He's very personable," Spencer Fox said. "He was also the Red Cross representative while he was here and a member of the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce."
But while the funeral business was a stabilizing force in the young married man's life, the lure of the snow was also calling. Brady Fox kept one boot in the snow industry and one in the funeral business at all times. "Even while we were in Rock Springs he'd do trade shows," his wife said. "He'd test products for Matthew Miller, Earl's son."
When Earl Miller died in 2002, Matthew Miller called Fox and asked him to return to the family business to help out. Both Fox and his wife were eager to return to Utah and jumped at the chance to get back to the ski and snowboard business.
Fox said titles aren't really used at the factory, but if needed, he can be called vice president. He owns stock in the company and runs it somewhat like a family, giving time off for snowboarding on deep snow days.
Jordan Thurston, an employee at Revolution, appreciates that. "When there's a big storm coming, Brady will give us the day off, or part of a day," Thurston said. "Everyone here is really chill. It's really fun."
Not wanting to leave the funeral business completely, Fox keeps his license active and works for Berg Mortuary as an after-care counselor. "Some widows are left alone," he said. "Some in that older generation haven't written a check, and they need help with their Social Security benefits and insurance, too."
Fox's wife said he has people skills crucial to that part of the funeral business. "All the widows will be holding his hand at the grave site," Deborah Fox said. "He's sensitive and empathetic — he's good with people that way."
Fox does seem to have the best of both worlds and wants to keep it like that. "There is a feel of service in the funeral industry, and I love that," he said. "Here (at Revolution) it's exciting to be part of a hobby every day, but you don't get that gratification."
Though he lives several hours from Rock Springs, he still helps his father, transporting human remains from the Salt Lake airport to his father's funeral home and taking care of business there when needed.
"I think the opportunity to do something with a sport he loves is a precedence right now," his father said. "But he keeps current with both businesses. It's always here available for him if he elects to do so."
Fox said since his father owns a funeral home he'll probably end up in the family business. For now, his choice includes two professions: one with the excitement of life, and one with the serenity of death.
E-mail: knelson@desnews.com