Dr. Richard Burr was a civil war embalmer. You’re probably familiar with the photograph of him at his tent embalming with no PPE. We credit him with being the impetus of the establishment of rules for embalmers and undertakers.  This is because he was allegedly burning down the embalming tents of his competitors.

His last name Burr, sounds a lot like “burn”, making it easy to recall his role in funeral history.