Celebrating the PIMS September 2026 Graduation
On Friday, September 4, the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science gathered at Calvary Episcopal Church to celebrate a milestone years in the making for our September 2026 graduates.
Commencement has always represented more than the completion of a degree at PIMS. It is the moment when students leave the classroom and step fully into a profession built around caring for others. For this graduating class, that familiar transition also marked the beginning of a new PIMS tradition.
A New Tradition Takes the Stage
For the first time, PIMS graduates crossed the commencement stage wearing the Institute’s new orange academic regalia.
Introduced for Fall 2026, the distinctive orange was inspired by the flame of the Lamp of Knowledge found within the historic PIMS crest. The symbolism reflects the journey of every PIMS student. Throughout their education, students receive knowledge, develop their skills, and learn what it means to serve others with compassion and professionalism.
At graduation, that responsibility becomes theirs to carry forward.
Against the historic setting of Calvary Episcopal Church, the orange gowns provided a striking visual representation of that transition. But the significance extends well beyond a new color.
The graduates wearing them are now the keepers of the light.
Celebrating the Class of September 2026
The ceremony recognized the dedication, perseverance, and countless hours of work that brought our graduates to this moment.
As commencement speaker Brandon F. Mosbey addressed the graduating class, students were surrounded by the faculty, staff, family, friends, and classmates who had shared in their journey.
Graduation celebrates academic achievement, but at PIMS it also recognizes preparation for an extraordinary responsibility.
Our graduates leave with the technical knowledge and professional skills required of funeral service practitioners. Just as importantly, they carry an understanding that behind every case is a person, behind every service is a family, and behind every professional responsibility is an opportunity to serve someone during one of life’s most difficult moments.
That is what it means to follow your servant’s heart.
From PIMS Into the Profession
The September graduates now join generations of PIMS alumni who have carried the Institute’s tradition of Knowledge, Skills, and Service into funeral homes and communities throughout the country.
Their classrooms will change. Their teachers will increasingly become experience. The lessons will continue.
And the knowledge and skills developed at PIMS will now be put into practice where they matter most: in service to others.
The orange gown may be new, but what it represents has been part of PIMS since 1939.
Relive the September 2026 Commencement
The September commencement ceremony was livestreamed through the official PIMS TikTok account, allowing family, friends, alumni, and members of the PIMS community to join the celebration from wherever they were.
PIMS commencement ceremonies are livestreamed on our official TikTok channel, @PIMSTOK, so family, friends, alumni, and members of the PIMS community can join us live for future graduations, even when they cannot attend in person.
The complete ceremony will also be available on the PIMS YouTube channel, giving our graduates and their families an opportunity to revisit this important day and allowing the broader PIMS community to share in the celebration.
Watch the Full September 2026 Commencement on YouTube
To our September 2026 graduates: congratulations!
Your time as a PIMS student may have reached its conclusion, but what you carry from PIMS is only the beginning.
Follow your servant’s heart. Carry the light forward.
Take with you the principles that have guided PIMS since 1939 and make them your own:
Knowledge. Skills. Service.
Link for the Graduation Photos here.