Trump supporters clash with U.S Capitol police officers in an attempt to breach the building and prevent the ratification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The mob later stormed the building, forcing lawmakers to be evacuated to safe locations within the Capitol and temporarily halted the proceedings.

Enraged Trump supporters curse at police officers before clashing with them in an attempt to enter the U.S Capitol building and prevent the ratification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. The mob later stormed the building, forcing lawmakers to be evacuated to safe locations within the Capitol and temporarily halted the proceedings.

Cowboys prepare to enter the riding arena before a calf-roping competition at the annual Santa Cruz County fair and rodeo in Sonoita, Ariz., on Sept. 4, 2021.

A fan reacts to a basket as the Phoenix Suns play the Milwaukee Bucks during a watch party organized inside the Phoenix Suns Arena on Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Phoenix on July 11, 2021.

Bernard Henry holds his daughter outside his home in Whiteriver, Ariz., while reflecting on his family’s experience with COVID-19 last year on Feb. 17, 2021. After contracting COVID-19, Henry’s wife was hospitalized and was still recovering months after her discharge when this photo was taken. Whiteriver Indian Hospital medical staff monitored Henry’s wife’s progress almost daily.

Former dialysis patient Sachi Kuwahara, 39, at her home in Chandler, Ariz., on Feb. 12, 2022. Kuwahara was born with a condition known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and underwent dialysis treatment for years before receiving two kidney transplants. After moving to Arizona from her home state of California for a better chance at a transplant, she noticed stark deficiencies in medical protocols and patient treatment at dialysis clinics across the state. Since 2019, three-quarters of all outpatient dialysis treatment facilities in Arizona have been sanctioned for health and safety violations.

A caricature artist draws a portrait of two customers at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix on Friday, Oct. 10, 2021.

Nurse Christopher Sims injects U.S Navy vet Patrick Brown with the Covid-19 vaccine at the pop-up vaccination clinic in Mesa, Ariz., on June 2, 2021.

Jacob Chansley, also known as the Q-Shaman, rails against election officials outside the Maricopa County Election headquarters in Phoenix on Nov. 7, 2020. Chansley, a prominent supporter of the Q-Anon conspiracy movement, rallied with other Trump supporters to demand election officials stopped counting votes as Joe Biden pulled ahead in the presidential race in Arizona.

Story: Overwhelmed by increased deaths and at risk of exposure to the virus, morticians worked without breaks for much of the past two years, attempting to maintain the same level of care offered before the pandemic. An already trying job grew more stressful, with funeral home directors – often known as the “last responders” – left explaining to grieving customers why they couldn’t mourn in person or have large, in-person gatherings to say goodbye. No amount of training could have prepared them for the amount of tragedy brought by COVID-19. No one was left unscathed, not even those people most often associated with death.

Funeral director Ron Thornson prepares for a service at Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 8, 2021. The funeral industry has been one of the hardest hit during the pandemic, but these “last responders” often are among the least recognized for providing essential services.

Office manager Reginald Burgan, left, and funeral director Ron Thornson plan the week ahead in the office of Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 8, 2021. For months this whiteboard was so crowded with names of people who died from COVID-19 related causes that Post-it notes had to be attached to the sides.

Ron Thornson uses a stretcher to move bodies into a refrigeration room at Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 7, 2021. Thornson’s small mortuary saw a 50% increase in the number of bodies it was handling, prompting him to hire more staff and buy a larger holding cell to store corpses according to sanitary standards.

Cremationist Sean Russo stacks a cardboard casket holding a corpse in the refrigeration room at the Cremation Center of Arizona in Phoenix on March 8, 2021. From August 2020 to January 2021, the two refrigeration cells at the crematorium were always full, and Russo was working 30 hours of overtime a week because of the increase in COVID-19 related casualties. During that period, the crematorium was operating 24 hours a day.

Ron Thornson paints a woman’s hands to hide skin discoloration at Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 5, 2021. Peace Chapel is a family-run business that operates primarily through referrals, which often come because of the attention Thornson pays to details like this.

Reginald Burgan moves a body into the hallway at Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 8, 2021. At the beginning of the pandemic, several mortuaries across the country scrambled to find room for corpses waiting to be serviced, often having to turn down people for lack of space. Peace Chapel never reached that point, but prepared for that possibility nonetheless, expanding its refrigeration room to allow for more bodies.

Reginald Burgan ties a deceased man's shoelaces at Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 12, 2021, as funeral director Ron Thornson works behind him. Contrary to other mortuaries’ practices, Thornson asks relatives of the deceased to provide clothes representative of the person’s character, meaning that the deceased is rarely seen in overtly formal clothes. He says families appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this process. Burgan, who is the funeral home’s office manager, was hired in August to run the office so Thornson could focus on his embalming work while COVID-19 deaths rose.

Reginald Burgan ensuring the deceased person in the casket is ready before a viewing at Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on April 8, 2021. When COVID-19 restrictions were still in place, only a limited number of family members could enter the room at once. Staff members agree that explaining sanitary protocols to grieving relatives was one of the most dreadful things they had to deal with.

Reginald Burgan places a casket in the hearse at the end of a shift outside Peace Chapel Funeral Home in Phoenix on March 5, 2021. For months Peace Chapel workers pulled 14- to 16-hour shifts to keep up with demand, rarely getting any days off. While often assumed that funeral workers are accustomed to seeing death, mass casualties events like the pandemic have been shown to cause higher than average rates of Post-traumatic stress disorder in this population.

Funeral coordinator Claude Robinson and pallbearers lower the casket during a graveside ceremony in Phoenix on March 13, 2021. Until March 2021, funeral services were limited to only a few people to prevent the spread of COVID-19 – bringing more despair on a day meant to help provide closure. This ceremony was one of the first ones with a large crowd since the start of the pandemic.