Photos: Uplifting celebrations: Professional pallbearers offer respect to any life lived

Gilmore leads his fellow pallbearers out of the church at the conclusion of a funeral service in South L.A.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Professional pallbearer and high school student Joe Jackson, 16, joins hands with Candy Boyd, who runs Boyd Funeral Home in South L.A. Ever since he was small, Joe has wanted to be a funeral director.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Joe Jackson, center, and his fellow pallbearers remove flowers placed on the casket before the start of Elnora Brown’s funeral at Trinity Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Brown passed away at the age of 99.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Professional pallbearers Derrick Royal, 38, Ricardo Beltran, 54, Jimmy Wilson, 34, Arthur Yarbrough, 45, Charles Lewis, 68, and Joe Jackson, 16, bow their heads along with funeral director Candy Boyd during Elnora Brown’s burial at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Joe Jackson, 16, walks with roses before handing them to mourners during the burial service for Elnora Brown.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Marteze Gilmore, left, uses a lint roller to help get fellow professional pallbearers ready for an inspection at Boyd Funeral Home in South Los Angeles.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Professional pallbearers walk in formation as they make their way out of a mausoleum during a funeral service at Inglewood Park Cemetery.   (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

Pallbearers Jimmy Wilson, Marteze Gilmore, Charles Lewis and Arthur Yarbrough relax in their dressing room at Boyd Funeral Home in South Los Angeles.  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)